Star of Victory
by Xigo
Summary: War is immortal, and every age a great battle rages across the galaxy. In a new era, when new oposition to serenity arises, who will be the shining star that saves all? An epic with all original characters and Gundams in the SEED world
1. Prologue Oncoming Champion

**_Gundam Seed  
Star of Victory  
_**

**_Prologue- The Oncoming Champion_**

It was dead silence. The silence of space that was so eerie, yet so soothing to many. It was an endless realm of jet black that contained more than one's mind could ever hope to store inside the trenches of thought. Multitudes of stars hung within the void, burning bright with enormous flames a variety of colors and heat. Planets and moons moved together across the galaxy, all rotating on their axis's and revolving around the massive ball of fire that was the Sun, in the very center of space.

This was once the land that had been so mysterious at one point in time, like an un-explored territory that many thrill-seeking men and women wished to travel to the limits of. It was once almost completely uninhabited by any form of life, except for the one planet, where the humans dwelled; Earth.

But then as ages passed, and the intellect of the human-mind increased, the beings were able to create new technologies that allowed for expansion into the frontier that was the universe. Colonies and PLANTS, places large enough to be considered small countries were built, and they became home-worlds to many who chose to live in them; in the middle of the space.

Transportation and militaristic machines of amazing power were made likewise, new ships and aircrafts that matched higher Mach speed, could be equipped or regularly contained incredible new weaponry, even be able to soar through unknown or once dubbed 'impossible' conditions. New Class Airships and Battleships, ground vehicles and artillery, amazing robotic machines called Mobile Suits; enormous human-like weapons controlled by the one pilot inside them, with deadly, yet stunning arrays of armaments. And more importantly did their superiors come along to be crafted and made ordinary in the new world-

Mobile Armors.

Past two blazing stars flew one of the massive machines, moving through the depths of space at unbelievable speeds and not letting up whatsoever. A marvelous object, with a gorgeous color scheme of white, gold, and cobalt, separate parts and regions of the metallic body painted with these tones. Attached to its back, arms and sides were types of weapons common to these Mobile Armors, though the artillery of this particular machine overall unique to itself, and its pilot.

Inside the cockpit, a small, yet comfortable room in the middle of the entire Gundam, was a mere young man. He sat on the cushioned chair inside, arms crossed and legs on the control board as he leaned back and relaxed during the flight. He was a teen, with gleaming hair that was like a mixture of the deepest sepia and the darkest smoke, flowing down to his eyebrows, past his earlobes, and far down the back of his neck. His body was garbed by quite normal clothing; a red casual open-chest, long sleeve shirt, with a white undershirt beneath it, and baggy, pale-blue jeans. Across one wrist was a thin orange wristband, and hung about his neck was a pair of dog tags, dangling and swinging as his Gundam experienced a bit of a 'bumpy' ride during the flight.

He finally opened his eyes from his resting, revealing a pair of dazzling cerulean iris that added to his already good looks. They were blank with expression, but his eyebrows narrowed as he gazed at the screen before him that showed the mass of space that still lay ahead as his Gundam moved forward. The young man pondered something.

"Hm, maybe I should put my space-suit on…" he spoke aloud to himself. He thought over it for a moment, and only shrugged. "Meh, whatever happens- happens". His eyes peered down at the control board, catching sight of a small monitor that displayed a map and a course of where he was heading. The teen smirked. "Well look at that, I'm goin' straight at Earth". He leaned back into his chair once more, and put his hands behind his head. "Maybe I'll land somewhere cool this time, gimme somethin' to do".

The young teen, Xigo Shigora, closed his eyes and relaxed once more, as his glorious Valor Gundam continued soaring through the galaxy…


	2. Phase 1 Crumbling Empire

_**Phase 1- Crumbling Empire**_

A massive ship slowly moved through the blackness of space, surrounded by several small crafts and what could be considered a small army of Mobile Suits. The amazing machine was enormous, far greater in size than fifty Gundams stacked together in a pile. In the back of the behemoth, two huge jets spat out a huge gust that pushed the monster forward, but leisurely towards a large cluster of space stations and facilities. Already in that 'campus' like complex had people sited the oncoming group of Mobile Suits and military aircrafts, and the place was in near chaos as all the officials and workers prepared for the crowd's arrival.

The place- ZAFT Headquarters.

Inside the great ship that stood in the center of the moving throng, a man sat within a grey-leathered chair, one leg crossed over another, and his hands closed together as his deep green eyes stared out at the main-center for the ZAFT Organization, a hint of sadistic nature in them. A small grin reached its way a short distance across his face, created by his current sense of satisfaction. He had a fine head of hair, almost bronze in color, and so long that even as he sat down, it fell to nearly reach his elbows. His well-built body was clothed by military-suit, much like ZAFT Officers, though this one sported the hue of mainly black, with silver bordering and seams, as well as its emblems in white.

The perfect garb for a man whose heart and mind reflected that mixture.

Before him, below a short balcony was the main control center for the communications and transportation for the ship. Dozens of panels and computers sat on the ground, with a handler before them, working frantically to their job and making sure everything was sound. These men and women also had a specific uniform, though less regal than the man above them, and with only a color array of a black upper body and grey lower body, whether that would be pants or skirts.

Unlike them then, the higher officers were allowed to wear special hats, signifying their greater importance in their league. Two of these stepped into the large room after the double-door opened and re-closed then, both male and standing with a straight posture as they walked over to the side of the long-haired man.

"Sir, we have confirmation that the ZAFT Headquarters has opened their doors and allowing us to enter their facilities to meet with Chairman Delara" the one of them stated as they stood gave a salute. The grin slowly stretched further across the sitting-man's face, as his green eyes nearly lit up some kind of mysterious pleasure and his hands lowered from his lips.

"Good, all appears to be going as planned. So long as we make it to their main office and be able to spread out troops out, nothing can fail" he said aloud for the two officers to hear. It grabbed their attention.

"Do you mean the Mobile Suits sir?" the one inquired. He shook his head.

"No, they won't be of much help unless in a serious situation of combat, which I doubt on all levels will occur. I imply about our human-forces, with whom we can we essentially lock-down the entire station, and then it'll become ours..." the enigmatic young man explained. The pair of officers still appeared befuddled, and their facial expressions represented that.

"Then sir, please don't mind my suggestion, but wouldn't you rather have us pick up speed with the travel, and get to there and in there _quicker_?" one asked. The comment made the leader let out a quiet chuckle.

"Major, you know as well as I do that patience is a virtue" he began staring harder at the ZAFT Headquarters through the main window on the ship, "this is not only the biggest mission of our time, but the most difficult the world has seen. If we rush the slightest aspect, all could fail. Besides, they may not be showing it, but those ZAFT inferiors are more fearful than they have even been in their lives with this sudden gathering, and from all of what's happened to them in the past weeks. Any sign of aggression, even the smallest thing like speeding towards them, could set those fools off. Then if that happens, then this entire operation is a possible failure. It is of utter significance that we feign pacifism". The pair of officers both were speechless for several seconds as they stared at the man, nearly stupefied. Though, they had got the message loud and clear.

"Umm, would you like to go and call in most of the Mobile Suits then…to, uhh…" one of them began to say after a few more moments. The leader simply nodded and interrupted him.

"Yes, do so, it is a good idea" he replied. Still slowed down by emotional amazement, the two officers both saluted, and then left the room together. The long-haired man leaned back into his chair, sighing 'happily'. "How much more time until our arrival?" he asked aloud.

"Approximately fifteen minutes sir" one of the communicators at the panels answered back. The leader grinned once more, and narrowed his eyes, quietly chuckling to himself as he revealed a set of pearl-white teeth; but opened for an expression of insanity.

"Fifteen minutes then until this universe is in my hands…"

* * *

Inside the ZAFT complex, Chairman Delara sat in the center of a long, arched desk with a pensive expression on his grim face. He leaned forward with his elbows to the surface of the table, and his fingers entangled together as an endless wave of thoughts rushed through the middle-aged man's head. For the last few weeks, being Chairman of the grand organization ZAFT was an arduous gauntlet for Delara. He was facing a crisis more unusual and difficult to comprehend than any ZAFT had encountered since the terrible war with the Earth Alliance.

For much time, nearly two months, chains of unexplainable events were transpiring all across the galaxy, specifically at ZAFT stations, bases and colonies. It started when some eight months ago did a top Military Training School suddenly was destroyed in a mysterious self-destruction, killing every person there and all the military equipment. Then two months later one of their top Gundam research labs had several documents containing data and instructions stolen right out from the filing cabinets, and even from their computers. How it had occurred no one knew, nor understood, but it was clear to all that the larceny of such important records for an unknown cause could it no way have positive outcomes.

Such was somewhat true, for in the coming months it started all over again, and no more than two weeks ago did they start occurring day after day. Nearly a dozen factories and other development labs were robbed of both Mobile Suit data and several Mobile Suits themselves, including types such as the DINNs, GINNs and other different models. Then the mysterious happenings increased in number, similar events, but also new. About seven colonies were completely cut from communications with others and all other ZAFT landmarks, and disappeared off computerized maps all over. More armories for Mobile Suits and other military crafts were reported to be raided secretly, and more technology and documents were stolen.

Then all havoc augmented when another small ZAFT military base was destroyed suddenly, and no sign of a direct culprit was known. A communications center was completely eradicated, and one by one minor stations for ZAFT were being either cut from contact with the rest of the galactic faction, or decimated like the first two before them.

All the while, Chairman Delara had his best organizations and teams attempt to figure out who or what was causing this, but could never come up with any logical explanation or discover any type of clue. As political and social chaos looked like it would ensue, the Neutral Nation Giyre came forth and offered to have a special session to explain what they had said was information they knew about the bizarre incidents to Delara and the rest of the ZAFT Board. Out of desperation in that he had nothing to go on anyways, or no solid plan to prevent any more of the episodes, the Chairman agreed to have the meeting take place, which would be fairly soon as he waited with the rest of his council.

The wait would not be long though.

"Chairman Delara, are you sure this is the best method to go through with this?" one of his right-hand men asked as he leaned forward to see his superior. For several seconds he was silent, still appearing to be trapped within his own thoughts.

"Aye, it is all we can do. This is the first report of any link to whoever's been doing this, and probably our only for much time. Our successes in finding out anything ourselves have been next to none, and if we continue going at this rate, we'll most surely have more of our posts destroyed. Even one by one, more chaos could occur across the galaxy, and all of the Plants would be sent into havoc amongst their Coordinators, they're already worried enough as it is…" the leader explained.

"But sir, don't you consider this almost, 'reckless'? We don't know all too much about this Giyre party that's coming as well. Wouldn't you rather have some investigation go on with them before this?" another member of the board asked. Delara shook his head.

"Not when we could endanger more of our stations and some hundreds or thousands of lives, no, I will not allow it. Giyre is a neutral nation, and for now that's enough to know we can trust the. Besides…I'm afraid it's too late to change anything now…". With that he once more grew silent, as did the rest of the board, even while the many apprehensive expressions engulfed their faces.

As another two minutes passed, the doors to large hall opened in a flash, and beginning to enter were five ZAFT Soldiers, and behind them were ten of Giyre.

"Chairman Delara, we've brought the Giyre Party to you" one of the soldiers declared with a salute. The quintet then all parted, and gave passage to the group of black-suited humans. In front of them all was a long haired man, _bronze_-colored hair.

"Mr. Delara, I'm Balador Varo, pleased to meet you" he greeted with a smirk. The Chairman narrowed his eyes.

* * *

A once calm Earth Alliance Alaska Military Base became plagued by the obstreperous orchestra of two Gundams clashing with one another in a duel of their armaments. About two miles from the walls of the station were the two top Earth Alliance Mobile Armors in the air, locked in combat as their pilots controlled the massive machines to battle the other. These two fine weapons were the Thunder Gundam, and the Blaze Gundam.

The Thunder was a thick, large machine, made to battle with brute force and power. It sported a fine array of deep yellow and white tones, a slight signification of its name. The Blaze instead bore crimson painting on the metallic armor, though likewise with several spots of white as the Thunder. This particular suit was fast and agile, created mainly for aerial combat and to execute speedy maneuvers quickly and with little effort.

Most amazing about this entire matter were the pilots of the two machines. Both were fifteen year old Natural males, not even old enough to be in college, but skilled enough to pilot the deadly weapons effortlessly from short years of training. The pilot of the Thunder was named Logan Dile, and for the Blaze, the energetic young man Rodka Redwing. Both had been sent to military school at a young age, and there they were able to express their natural flair for commanding the suits. When they were barely twelve years old, the two of them were transferred to the new Alaska Headquarters, where they were showed the pair of Gundams the Earth Alliance was proud to have created.

And within three years, they had perfected the art of piloting them, and _fighting _with them.

"Woo! These new boosters are amazing!" Rodka yelled from his cockpit as he sent the Blaze sailing about in the air above the Thunder. Down below him in his own small control-room Logan smirked at his fellow pilot.

"Dangit Rodka we're supposed to be having a test-duel here, so get your weapons firin' with that thing!" he shouted as he had the Thunder shoot off two blasts of its Beam Rifle. In an instant the Blaze stopped in mid-air, and just managed to scoot away from both shots.

"Hey man lay off, I couldn't help but have some fun with those things for a sec!" Rodka replied. The Thunder aimed its rifle at the Blaze as it charged up another shot.

"Play-time's over bud, I wanna show everyone at the base that I can kick your butt with this baby" Logan challenged as he smirked once more. Rodka laughed, enjoying the comment.

"Ohh so that's how it is? Well then, I'll be glad to whip your ass!" he said back, and in a flash the Blaze had released two long steel chains from its wrists, and Rodka had them swiping at the Thunder. Logan managed to block the shots with his Gundam's giant Battle Axe, letting the sharp-tips of the links bounce off the head of his weapon.

"I'm _seriously_ hoping that wasn't meant to be a real joke" he responded, amused. Rodka chuckled.

"Aww, I thought I'd finally be able to make you laugh with that one".

"Think of this way- you'll make me laugh with one of your cracks when you manage to beat me in a duel" Logan declared.

"Guess you'll be laughing hysterically then after this bout" Rodka shot back. Suddenly then, the Thunder wrapped both of its hands around the rod of its Battle Axe, and flew up towards the Blaze.

"Not likely!"

* * *

Inside the New Alaska Base were a pair of young, but pretty teenaged girls, the two of them dressed casually; one in shorts, one in jeans, both with a t-shirt. The pair walked together down one of the hallways that lead to the docking bay for the Blaze and the Thunder, where their two friends, the pilots of the Gundams, had just landed and berthed. The girls were named Jina Crestal, and Iryn Tarob. Best friends, yet nearly complete opposites.

Jina was a calm, pleasant girl who always had a smile on her face, the representation of her almost perpetual blissful personality. On the other hand, Iryn was a far more lively young lady who was probably more out-going than most of the men at the Military Station. Even in their hair they had nothing alike; Jina with a long golden type, and Iryn with a deep red tone in a ponytail.

The two girls were both fifteen years old, just as Rodka and Logan, and their story of how they came to the New Alaska Base was oddly similar. They both excelled in computer and technology courses at their school, and their families had links to the Earth Federation Military, especially in the Alaska Region, as they were involved with aiding to certain sections of it. When the two girls were offered the positions of Computer Communicators at the station, they both accepted, knowing they would still be together, and that they'd no longer have to take part in any form of the educational system. This all occurred when they were thirteen, and after two years of work they got to where they were today; Head Technological Communicators in the Communications Center, and aboard the New Alaska Base's most prized warship- the Order.

"Oh wow, this is delicious!" Iryn exclaimed as she lapped up another small chunk of strawberry ice cream that she held in her hand by the cone. Jina licked her own dessert; a scoop of mint ice cream.

"Yeah mine too, that new ice cream bar that put in the cafeteria is the best thing to happen to this place" she replied. Iryn laughed.

"It's better than even _any _of the Gundams that have been stationed here!" she spoke. The two girls both chuckled together.

"Hey, I'm sure we're not the only ones that like it better than those big things!" Jina added. They laughed even more.

"Can't say the same for our buddies though" Iryn began, and taking another lick of her ice cream before continuing, "they looked like they were gonna kill each other out there during their test-duel."

"Nah, probably only Logan would be like that, Rodka messes around so much that he can't even pay attention to focusing on something like that" Jina said. Iryn snickered.

"You're probably right". And once again they both laughed.

As they turned around corner, beginning to head straight into the docking-bay, they stopped the pair of young men fresh out of the Gundams, walking together and talking just as Jina and Iryn were.

"Woo! That was the best one we've ever done! I gotta ask the Commander if she'll let us do that again tomorrow!" Rodka exclaimed. Logan rolled his eyes.

"Well will ya actually do something other than be a jackass then? Swear to God all you did was screw around that whole time" he replied, smirking. Rodka chuckled.

"Hey, that's just to make sure I don't bust you and your Gundam up too much". The young Dile now raised an eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. Rodka grinned as he put on a cocky expression.

"Well of course it's because you and I and everyone else knows how much better I am than you at piloting, and if I actually took it seriously that I'd wipe the floor with you" Redwing explained. The moment he finished Logan threw his head back and laughed.

"Ha! Maybe that'd be true if you had any aiming whatsoever" he began, "that entire fight you had to dodge anything I threw at you, and I probably didn't move the Thunder five feet the whole time to evade everything you tried to hit me with".

"See? That's exactly what I meant, I was just going easy on ya" Rodka quickly replied back. Logan simply rolled his eyes again. The four of the young teens all came together then, Jina and Iryn chuckling after hearing the boys' conversation.

"Rodka, I seriously wish you could hear yourself talk one day" Iryn promptly stated, and laughed a bit more. The young man gave a humored smile.

"Whata ya mean by that?" he questioned.

"That you sound like an idiot" Jina bluntly stated. Logan and Iryn both laughed themselves as Rodka simply shrugged off the remark, paying no attention to it. Once they stopped, Jina then looked at Logan, who threw his head back and swayed his semi-long blonde hair. "You were good today though yourself Logan" she said. The young man smirked.

"Meh, I'm not exactly as happy. I think I could've been a bit better with blocking. Honestly, I don't like saying it since it boosts his ego, but if he didn't screw around with his whips I probably would've been hit a bunch of times, I gotta work on that" Dile replied.

"Nonsense, you did great Logan!" an adult female voice echoed from down the hallway. The four teens all looked to see who it was, and instantly noticed it was the Commander of the New Alaska Base; Miss. Saruma Cerrical. The quartet all straightened their bodies out as they face they faced the young woman, likewise giving a salute.

"Commander!" they greeted. She laughed as her long jet black hair moved with her head.

"No need for that, we're not in combat or anything" she responded, "all that makes any of this even close to formal is this same white officer outfit I wear every last day." The teens all took to her words, and relaxed as they chuckled from her comments. She smiled. "But yes, you did a great job out there Logan, I was very happy to see your skill". Saruma then looked over at Rodka. "You on the other hand, gotta take it more seriously next time". Instantly Logan, Jina and Iryn laughed, and Rodka shrugged again.

"Okay, if you say then I'll do it" he said nonchalantly. Commander Cerrical then smiled more contently.

"Good. Otherwise, you guys busy at all?" she asked. The four didn't need much time to think about an answer.

"Besides our ice cream no" Jina answered with a giggle, which made the young woman smirk herself.

"And me and Rodka aren't either, all we had planned today was that duel" Logan added.

"Good, you guys wanna see the two new Mobile Suits?" the Commander inquired with a grin. The teens' eyes lit up, especially the two boys'.

"They're finally up?" Iryn first spoke though. Miss Cerrical nodded.

"Yep, they're in the second Docking Bay. Just follow me" she clarified, and with that began to walk ahead down the hallway where Logan and Rodka just came. The four teens quickly followed behind her, all of them excited in some way to see what the Commander was talking about.

"Ohh this is gonna be sweet…" Rodka murmured.

* * *

The aura of the Council Room at the ZAFT Headquarters was simply one word; tense. The tension clouded every bit of space in the large hall, augmented even more by the guards from Giyre who bore sub-machine guns in their hands, ready and waiting. The fact still of that Chairman Delara and the rest of the Board Members had little knowledge of these people didn't help to ease the mood, and the rather 'sly' personality of Balador Varo still made them feel troubled.

Nevertheless though, the meeting continued to go without any chaos.

"So, you're telling me these people that have been attacking our station are a huge organization?" Delara asked as he leaned on his desk. Still standing in the middle of the floor, Balador nodded.

"Yes, it's a major group that's stayed hidden for almost five years now, and up until no more than a couple weeks ago did we finally find out about them. One of their officials met with me to offer a position in their group, and bring my entire colony into them. I refused to take any part of it though, and he said that he relay the message to his leader. But, he also explained that because we now knew about them, that our colony would be a target for attack, as well as the rest of your bases. So, in safety for my colony, as well as to help you, I figured it'd be best to report all of this, and now possibly have you stop them and save the rest of your stations" Varo explained, and then crossed his arms. A new member of the board was the first to get another question out.

"Well, what what's the deal with this organization? What is their goal?" he inquired. Balador this time shrugged.

"The official I met with wasn't very specific, and I'm not surprised, since they're trying to keep as much under-wraps as possible, they just figured I'd join them instantly. What I did learn though was that they're like a small nation, completely militaristic in one sense" the smirking man replied. Delara gave a troubled reaction.

"So, they're just a giant-war group…" he sighed. Balador continued.

"Pretty much. They have no actual colonies whatsoever, nothing but military bases, labs, factories, armories and barracks. Their only focus is building a massive army, and training their troops to be the absolute best pilots, technicians and engineers".

"Well, where do they keep all of this?" Delara then questioned.

"They have a few stations set in space, scattered around, but the majority of what they have is all set down onto Mars" Varo answered. Every member of the board went wide-eyed, and several gasps came out.

"Mars!" one of the women exclaimed. Balador nodded.

"Yes, probably eighty-percent of all their troops and machines are stationed there, in bases relatively packed together in one main region. The people there almost never go outside, they're just stuck in the buildings and such, so they're really no need for a place with air. And since, obviously, no one suspected it, they'd never be found there" the man spoke. For a few moments, everyone was silent, as Chairman Delara narrowed his eyes and nodded.

"Until now that is…" he murmured quietly. Balador simply smirked from hearing it. Delara then went on.

"Well then, that's very much helpful to us Mr. Varo, I'm very gracious for the information, but real quick, do you know the name of this organization?" he asked.

"Yes, they're named the Galactic Invasion Regime, but basically they're just recognized by their initials- G-I-R" Balador replied, and slightly widening his grin. Delara nodded back.

"Alright, get that down" he then said as he turned to the Board Member next to him, who quickly grabbed a pen and wrote it onto a piece of paper. Balador then appeared to remember something.

"Oh yes, and you pronounce that- _Giyre_..." Varo proclaimed.

Delara nearly froze where he sat, and all of the Board Members were stricken with disbelief. Their eyes bulged, and their mouths all fell agape. With their hearts racing, they stared in horror at Balador, whose smirk had now turned into a chuckling grin…

"No…" Chairman Delara gasped. Balador instantly threw his head back and laughed briefly.

"That's right you blind fool, the people that have been shattering and raiding all of your labs and stations is my colony. I've kept our militaristic ideals and productions a secret now, waiting and preparing for when the time would be right, for us to make our move for domination" he began, as Delara and the rest of the Board were nearly petrified, "but, we cannot achieve that so long as ZAFT is in our way, so for the last six months, I've been slowly chipping away at your entire empire. And from that I waited for you to succumb to desperation, and allow for us to meet, even when you have such little intelligence on my 'neutral' colony". As Balador finished, he stayed silent for a few seconds, and then the room was plagued by repeated sounds of gun fire from throughout the headquarters, and in the mix of it all were the endless cries and shouts of men and women from their death. The ZAFT Council were all horrified even more. "You hear that? That is the sound of all your people being slaughtered by my troops" Balador stated, grinning wider. "At this moment, more of my soldiers are pouring into this base, and along with the ones already here, swiftly killing every ZAFT citizen, and now taking control of this entire base. And from here, all of the ZAFT kingdom will fall, to the might of Galactic Invasion Regime…"

Delara shook madly in his seat, sweating terribly on his face. His eyes appeared as if they'd pop out of their sockets in any second, bulging so much from his indescribable shock. All the while, Balador still grinned wickedly.

"I thank you, Mr. Delara, for if it were not of you falling for our ploy and allowing us to enter this base, it would be so much more of a struggle to take down all of ZAFT. And now with this entire base under our control, it shall become the new, and far better Giyre Headquarters." He took a pause, merely for a few moments of devilish chuckling. "Now then, I must bid you goodbye. But have a good time watching us conquer the galaxy…from _Heaven_...".

Delara and the other Board Members were able to get out one last terrified expression for a split moment. The Giyre officers behind Balador stepped forward, and unloaded all the bullets from their sub-machine guns. In mere seconds, the ZAFT Council was torn apart in a sickening shower of blood, their bodies blasted and floored from the gruesome execution. And as the soldiers still fired their rounds, Balador stood in the same place, throwing back his head once more and letting out a spine-chilling laughter.

* * *

Through the docking bay walked Commander Cerrical and the four teens closely behind her. All around them mechanics and technicians labored, repairing military machines or adding some new type of upgrade to the giant weapons. Held in large spaces in the huge walls of the hall were several of the M1 Astray Mobile Suits, as well as the Strike Rogues, which had not more than three years ago began to be mass-produced by the Earth Alliance, after getting the data and blueprints from remaining Orb Citizens. Likewise, all in one row were three of the finer machines the New Alaska Base was proud to have; the three Strikes. Instead of only having one that could be equipped with three different battle-packs, three separate Strike Gundams were made, each one having one of the battle-packs permanently installed. There was the Aile Strike for air-combat, the Launcher Strike for destroying war-ships and large amounts of enemies, and the Sword Strike were close and long-range physical combat.

It had been some sixty years since the terrible war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT, a war that shed more blood then imaginable. Nevertheless, it amazingly ended with a Peace Treaty between the two sides, and from there they went on to rebuild themselves, and over decades become neutral with one another.

Earth had much re-grouping to, mainly due to their losses of major Mobile Suits they created, as well as some large regions devastated across the globe due to heavy warfare. Victoria at this point in time was completely repaired, as well as all the destroyed towns and small cities once established there. Orb, the former neutral colony, was given incredible funds and relief-forces to re-build the entire minute nation from the Earth Alliance, once an entire new Political and Military Board were established. And then from that, the surviving citizens agreed to hand over the information on creating the M1 Astrays, as well as the Strike Rogues, which over several years the Earth Alliance military worked to mass-produce.

And by now, they had, completely shutting down the Strike Dagger production.

Alaska though had suffered the worst, no doubting. A region of ten entire kilometers became one giant crater of ash and debris from a deadly Cyclops System that was activated during a ZAFT offensive on the base. In the process, it wiped out nearly half of the massive floods of ZAFT forces, but likewise effaced one of the biggest military bases off the face of the Earth.

When new leaders came in, they immediately went into action on creating a new Alaska Headquarters, setting it up on the biggest island in the Aleoute Archipelago. It started off leisurely, but as the years went on, and the Earth Alliance regained more economic relief and resources, the re-building picked up speed, with more and more sections of it being erected every year, and many military machines being sent to be stationed within its confines.

After forty long years of incredible work, the amazing military headquarters was completed, and was officially named- "The New Alaska Base".

And after twenty years, it was the greatest base ever known to Earth, with its staff of diligent crewmen, wise and intelligent military officials, and most skilled Mobile Suit Pilots to be found on the planet.

"There they are guys" Commander Cerrical stated as she moved out of the quartet's way, and waved her arm to show-off the pair of brand new Mobile Suits. They stopped where they stood, and looked way-up to get a perfect glimpse at the marvelous machines. Their eyes widened in awe, and their mouths opening without sound. Locked in their compartments were the metallic titans, one sporting a fine forest-green and smoke color, the other next to it painted a sharp violet and timber wolf.

"Wow…" Jina only managed to get out.

"They're awesome!" Iryn exclaimed as her eyes nearly glowed. Commander Saruma smirked.

"They are aren't there? The green one is the Twinn, and the purple one is the Llongshot. Rodka smirked himself.

"Heh, didn't need to tell me that, I'd never forget the names of these babies, even when I hadn't seen 'em yet" the young man remarked. Logan gave a nod as he took a few steps forward.

"Yeah, I was able to keep up to date as all the working on them went on, especially the weaponry, but I didn't expect them to look so cool. I can't wait to see 'em in action sometime" Dile declared.

"Well if you're lucky you won't have to wait long!" another feminine voice cried out from ahead of them. Logan lowered his head to look forward, and the others all did as well. Walking to the group were a young man and woman, both in the orange jumpsuit most mechanics at the base wore. The man wore small, square-lens glasses, that covered his handsome blue eyes, even if some of his semi-long black hair hung into them. The woman was likewise good-looking, with long stringy sepia hair, and rich green eyes. Surprising, even though they looked completely opposite, they were brother and sister, separated by a mere two years of age.

"Yeah, we're supposed to be testing them out tomorrow!" the man, named Gartol added. Commander Saruma smiled as he finished.

"Kids, these two will be the pilots of the Mobile Suits" she explained. Jina's face lit up again.

"Oh wow! That's gotta be awesome for you two!" she said excitedly. The woman, named Shirta nodded with a smirk.

"You bet, I've wanted to use that thing for _years _now" she replied. Everyone laughed a bit.

"Well, after all, you two have been working on those things the whole way" Rodka added.

"Yep, that's why we're the perfect choice for 'em!' Gartol quickly responded. The Commander laughed again with Jina and Iryn.

"Yeah, you two even went so far as to design the entire weaponry" she stated.

"Wow, that had to take forever" Iryn spoke, a bit surprised from hearing it. Shirta smirked again and looked back up at the Twinn and Llongshot.

"Yeah, but right about now, it was all worth it" she said. Gartol snickered a bit and patted her on the shoulder.

"Nah, it'll be worth it when we kick each other's asses in them" he 'corrected'. Everyone instantly let out a laugh, the entire group of them finding the comment humorous.

As they laughed all together, a mid-rank officer came running across the docking bay, moving at full speed until he finally slowed down and stopped in front of Miss. Saruma.

"Commander Cerrical! Urgent message!" he declared with a salute. Everyone turned to him, curious by his apprehensive expression, especially the Commander.

"What is it?" she asked.

"There's an unidentified Gundam entering the atmosphere and heading straight down towards the base!".


	3. Phase 2 Falling Star

**_Phase 2- Falling Star_**

The New Alaska Base was in a state of pandemonium, with sirens blaring at every corner of the entire area, as red lights flashed across the terrain. Soldiers of all ranks jumped into the suits and dashed to their specific military machine, whether they were the pilots of an aircraft, or lucky enough to be in charge of a Mobile Suit. Dozens of technicians and crewman made their way to the communication centers across the base, while many ran out to the main landing zone, where it was judged that the Gundam would land.

Nearly thirty soldiers, clad in their officer-uniforms, stood in large packs, fully-loaded sub machine guns in hand. Adding to that little defense were some ten other drone guns and manned-beam cannons all ready and charging to open fire. The docking bay doors all opened wide, and the large steel bars that held in the Mobile Suits in their compartments were removed, allowing the mechanical giants to be ready to take off out of the hall and head outside.

Many other workers of the New Alaska Base joined the crowd, waiting anxiously to see what would happen, as now a sixth M1 Astray came down in the landing zone, aiming its beam rifle high up into the sky.

All the while, Commander Cerrical, along with Logan the others, all stood together in front of the mass of Earth Alliance Personal. Saruma stared up into the clouds, her eyes narrowed even as her uniform-hat shaded her eyes from the sun's rays.

"Commander, are you sure you don't want me and Rodka to get into our Gundams and come out here as well?" Logan asked, slightly surprised by what had been so far from her, 'strange' commands. She shook her head.

"No, right now he's not posing much of a threat at all" she replied. Just then another young man, though nearly thirty years of age, came over to them, covered by a deep red suit for piloting. He removed his helmet, revealing a quite handsome face, and then shook his head of mid-length chestnut hair. This was one of the best Mobile Suit pilots the New Alaska Base had enlisted, and because of it he was given the reward of being the main pilot for the three different Strike Gundams. A top-gun, veteran, and skilled pilot; Major Taro Lanawor.

"How the hell do you figure that Commander?" he asked, apparently 'set off' by what she said, "we got an unknown Gundam heading into our base that's been shown to be loaded with a nasty array of weapons!". Without even turning to him, the Commander responded.

"Yes, and it's also been proven, Major Taro, that from our sky-cameras and infrared photos, that the Gundam is almost turned off completely, only running with the engine for flight-landing. We've also got a message from the pilot that he means no harm, and…"

"You're gonna just believe all of that stuff and take such minor precautions for protecting hundreds of lives and one of the biggest military bases on the Earth?" Taro interrupted.

"I wasn't finished" Cerrical quickly replied, startling the young man for a moment, "he's also someone we know, someone we can trust." Taro cocked an eyebrow.

"Okay, I'd be saying 'what the hell are you talking about?', but I think it's more fitting if I remind the amount of defenseless people around here who could be slaughtered if something doesn't go as planned" he challenged. The Commander now looked over at him, and smirked.

"I warned them all about the danger about being out there, they're staying on their own accord" she stated. Taro's eyes widened for a split second, as he once more got a jolt from her replies. Though within no more than five seconds, he began to chuckle, and smile just as she did.

"I don't know why I still stay here even when you're in charge Commander" he said. She grinned.

"Don't gimme that, you know you'd miss me too much". Taro simply laughed even more. But through his amused chortle, Jina only pointed up to the sky, slightly exhilarated.

"Here it comes!" she announced. In an instant all heads were turned to the clouds, where a fabulous Gundam was quickly making its descent to the ground. The crowds of people backed off several more meters, making more room for the massive machine that oddly had its arms held out, like a human showing pacifism. With the sunlight shining greatly upon it, the marvelous cobalt tone on it looked even more stunning, and the gold-like sternum and large shoulders glimmered as well. Rodka couldn't help himself but smirk.

"Man, that's one helluva good lookin' machine" the young man remarked aloud.

"Yeah, who the hell's in that thing?" Logan asserted. No one paid much attention, and instead kept their eyes on the Gundam as it then slowly came to its feet, landing softly and letting its boosters cool down. The arms fell to its sides, and quickly, the metallic giant was shut off. All the while, Commander Cerrical simply grinned.

The pilot-entrance door opened wide, and Xigo stepped out into the fresh Alaska air, holding tight onto his descent-cord. Still standing on the Gundam's chest, he looked out to the horizon with a smirk, a pair of semi-opaque sunglasses covering his eyes from the rays. And with his first steps out onto Earth, he jumped, and slowly came down to the ground.

Before he even set foot, the group of soldiers had him surrounded, and their guns aimed straight the young man, following him without taking their attention away for a split second. Once he was on the smooth grey asphalt of the landing zone, he gave an amused smile and raised his hands into the air.

"Not to give a stereotypical greeting, but I come in peace" he first said. The crowd all laughed, while Logan, Taro and the others were all completely taken aback by who it was.

"No way!" the Major exclaimed.

"Holy crap you've gotta be kidding me!" Rodka laughed. Jina and Iryn's eyes were almost literally glowing as they stared at Xigo.

"Please search him, just for safety" Commander Cerrical declared. Xigo looked over at her and smirked.

"Oh come on, you know who I am, all's that different is I got a new Gundam this time" Xigo said back. The young woman smirked himself now.

"Yeah, and you scared the life out of us for a few minutes because of that, before I then noticed your message that you sent us. I can tell who you are instantly by how you write" she said back. Once again, everyone chuckled.

"Of course, none of us would ever forget Xigo" Iryn remarked. By then the soldiers were done checking Xigo for any weapons, and stepped back to give him space. He lowered his arms, and then removed his sunglasses as he came to the Commander.

"Pleasure to meet you again, as you may expect, I'm the new exchange-pilot from the Tokayo Military School again" he stated, and then reached into his pocket. Upon pulling out his wallet, he opened it and revealed a special card that he handed to Miss Saruma. "Just in case you need any identification, again" the young man explained. She smiled herself as he glanced over it briefly, then handing it back to him.

"I don't need any proof that it's you. Welcome to the New Alaska Base again, I'm surprised that it turned out to be you her, but I think I can speak on behalf on most of the people here that we're happy" she said as he held out her hand. He smiled back and shook it.

* * *

By noon Xigo leaned on the balcony railing of the one of the large buildings at the base. Logan, Rodka, Iryn and Jina had joined him, the five all lined up on the metal bar, standing and enjoying the fresh, cool air as they talked amongst themselves, mainly with the young Shigora.

As it turned out, a few months ago the New Alaska Base took part in the Exchange-pilot Organization, taking in a young ZAFT soldier and having him stay at the base for four weeks. With this the pilot would get to see new types of training, but as well be able to learn about the Earth Alliance's way of life, and how they managed with their military. More importantly, this also was considered a small help in completely patching up relations to the once bitter-enemies.

Xigo was the exchange-pilot at that time, and he came instead with a DINN suit instead of the new Gundam he had entered with today. His personality and attitude had quickly made him get on good terms with all the people at the base, especially Major Taro and Commander Cerrical. Then after two weeks of getting to know them better, Xigo had become quite good friends with Logan and the others, and then even closer to them by the time his month-long stay was complete. He had promised he'd come back, and try to make it as the next exchange-pilot again, and with luck, he somehow managed to succeed in doing that.

"So how did you actually get to be the one who'd come here again? We had been told it was some other guy" Rodka stated as he continued the conversation with the quintet. Xigo smiled as he looked back out to the horizon.

"It was a pain, but I pretty much bugged and begged the hell outta all of my instructors, and I rambled off all these reasons why about five times. I highly doubt they felt it was good for me to come back, but I guess they got annoyed that they sent me just so I'd leave" he replied. The group all chuckled. Jina then placed her hand over Xigo's.

"Well I'm glad you did, we all really missed you once you had left" the girl said. For a moment the ZAFT pilot glanced down at her hand, and then looked back at her with a smirk.

"I missed you guys too" he began, and looked away again, "that place actually gets really boring, they didn't have any more lessons for me to learn, so all the time I was just training or developing other weapons and prototypes. Though every guy I ever dueled with just got annihilated. I did the math one day, and only thirteen percent of the time did I actually ever get hit". While everyone laughed, Iryn seemed to find it the funniest.

"You're still that good with those things 'eh?" Tarob asked. Xigo snickered as he nodded.

"Yep, and with that new Gundam I have I'm probably the best pilot ZAFT has" he answered.

"Yeah that one looks sweet, what the hell is it?" Rodka added.

"That's the one I told you I had been working on while I was still at my school, developing all the weapons and modifications to it. It's called the Valor Gundam, but it's just known as the Valor. It took me a ton of work, but I've made that thing the strongest suit ZAFT currently holds. Great set of weapons, some of the best engines they had, compatible in water, hell the thing has a collection of boosters that gives it complete flight". Jina's eyes widened.

"Without a flight-pack or even a Mobile Armor transformation?" she asked. Xigo nodded.

"Yep, doesn't need them". While her, Iryn and Rodka all thought over the amazing explanation, Logan simply chuckled.

"Sounds like you've got a beast of a machine on your hands Xigo, we gotta have another duel sometime and see whose the man this time" Dile stated. Shigora glanced over at him.

"You sure? Last time I was here I nearly destroyed you with a regular DINN, I don't even wanna see what I could do with the Valor now" the young man challenged. Rodka and the two girls both tried to hold back a humored smile from the brazen statement by Xigo, while Logan stood off from the railing, appearing unfazed.

"Oh don't worry, I've gotten at least three-times as good since then, I'll be glad to return the favor" Dile boldly struck back. Xigo smirked.

"You've gotten me excited now" Shigora responded. Logan gave a smirk back.

* * *

Inside the ZAFT Headquarters Council Hall, the pair of main doors lay open as several Giyre soldiers and officials walked in and out, or stayed within the room and worked on setting up several video cameras and sound-machines. A few large lights were also placed with the rest of the equipment, plugged it and positioned correctly. Their bright illuminations all combined created a great area of lighting, all around Balador and the long desk which he stood in front of, as if they were all setting up for a broadcast.

And that's what they were doing.

"Sir, we have the cameras now hooked up to the computers in the communications department to show the footage of the incoming troops and ships" a soldier announced with a salute to Varo. The leader of the sinister organization nodded.

"Perfect, I'm glad to here that will all work out" Balador replied.

"Almost done here with the rest of the equipment sir!" one of the technicians yelled as he untangled a mess of wires. Balador smirked, appearing amused.

"Take your time, you still have several minutes before we need to get this thing going" the man said back.

For a few moments Balador simply gazed out one of the large windows in the room, staring into the blackness of space silently, until his brief thoughtful time was interrupted by a low groan. Slightly surprised, though not showing it, Balador glanced out of the corner of his eye, and managed to catch Chairman Delara, very weak-looking and a bloody mess, but somehow alive and moving.

"I didn't expect for you to live through that Mister Delara, you're a very strong-willed man" Balador commented. The Chairman slowly began to lift himself up as he tried to grasp the edge of the large table, but only collapsed back into a small pool of blood with a deep moan. Balador's eyes nearly lit up. "I think this actually works out better this way…"

* * *

"That's one hell of a beautiful machine ya got there kid!" the head mechanic of the New Alaska Base exclaimed as he stood with Xigo, gazing up the Valor in the docking bay. The young man chuckled.

"You don't know how much of that I hear Desial" he replied. The near-fifty year old man laughed as he scratched his black goatee.

"Well no matter how much ya get it, there's no doubting that it's all true. I've never seen anything like this baby" Desial added as his eyes moved all across the body of the Gundam, "a perfect set of boosters for regular flight, some of the toughest armor I've seen in my life, and some of the coolest weapons possible attached to that thing!". Xigo smirked from the mechanic's remarks.

"If you like it that much then I'll arrange for it that you'll be my top repairman for it" Shigora replied. Desial's face lit up.

"Ya will? Aw man thanks kid! I'd love to work on this sucker!" the man shouted, making Xigo even more amused.

"Calm down Desial, sadly Xigo will only be here for a month or two" a voice from behind them interrupted. The two of them glanced back, noticing Commander Cerrical, and another young woman next to her, dressed by the same military suit, although with shoulder-length ocher hair, the one who had spoken. Xigo smiled.

"Hey! Captain Arelie! Good to see ya!" the teen greeted. The military official smiled back and nodded.

"Same here Xigo" Arelie began, "I didn't quite believe that it was you here at first, until Commander Cerrical here convinced me to come see you, and unless I'm blind that's you for sure". Xigo couldn't manage to hamper a guffaw.

"Ha! Still exactly the way you are when I was here last time!" he commented. Instantly everyone around chuckled, as the Captain cocked an eyebrow.

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" she shot back. The entire group laughed harder and louder, especially Xigo, whose face became a light shade of 'pink' as he took part in the chortle.

And then the noise of the Sound System turning on over-powered it.

"Attention all in the base, report to the Docking Bay at once for an urgent television broadcast! Personal in the bays, please turn on the main monitor!" the man over the speaker announced. Gasps and murmurs spread all across the hangar, all wondering what was currently happening as many more soldiers, officers, technicians and mechanics poured into the bays.

"What in hell is going on?" Major Taro yelled as he ran from the entrance and towards Commander Cerrical.

"Someone get the monitor on!" the woman shouted over the crowds.

"I got it!" Gartol yelled back as he dashed into the one AV room. In a few seconds he had the enormous screen on the South Wall of the Docking Bay lit up, and before he could even set the channel, everyone watching got the wicked sight of Balador Varo standing, grinning demonically. Xigo froze.

But they were not alone. For all across the Earth were television screens and radios now being switched from their normal programs to this mysterious frequency, which showed the leader of Giyre still standing in the ZAFT Council Hall. People in their homes, at their working place, inside stores and restaurants, even in the middle of a town or city square stopped to watch or listen to the unusual program, not able to fathom what it would herald…

"Citizens of the planet Earth" the devilish man began, stretching out his arms, "I am Balador Varo, President of the once neutral colony Giyre, which has now blossomed into the most powerful empire in this universe. For years my peaceful, quiet home to millions kept a dark secret that stayed only within the confines of our colony walls, and our military bases on the surface of Mars. The untold truth that we've actually been a militaristic nation for decades, focusing on our major goal being the strongest in the known world. We centered our labors to training our people, both Natural and Coordinator, to be the most skillful pilots and soldiers to grace this era. To creating the most powerful and deadly military machines and vehicles used only for destruction. To establishing barracks, bases, and armories all across the galaxy to aid in making our army the strongest ever seen in time. We've begun a campaign to take over all nations, planets, and colonies, to build an empire under us, for we are the Galactic Invasion Regime." Balador then stopped, allowing for all people on Earth to take in what they just heard, but in a state of utter disbelief and fear.

"And in doing that, we've begun slowly chipping away at the power nation of ZAFT here in space, until we finally hit the jackpot. For the last months, all those reports of destroyed bases, and robberies of Mobile Suits have been the Galactic Invasion Regime's doing. It was us that destroyed so many communication centers, cutting off much contact between ZAFT within itself, and even those organizations that keep in touch with them from your Earth. But now, that is no longer needed to be kept a secret, as with a little luck, but absolute genius, Giyre has taken over the ZAFT Headquarters". Balador then stopped speaking away, and turned his body to reveal the sickening sight of the ZAFT Council, laying dead in pools of their own blood. Only Chairman Delara was alive, crawling at the slowest speeds and breathing heavily in his extreme state of pain. All across the Earth, innumerable gasps came from the people; as some millions of men, women, and children were petrified in shock of the unbelievable sight that was on the screens before them. Balador then stepped back in front of the camera.

"We've now taken complete control of the ZAFT Headquarters, as well as the Gundams and all Mobile Suits contained here. And I can firmly say, that at this very moment, more and more PLANTS, and military bases of ZAFT are being taken over by Giyre forces, slowly conquering the entire empire that stretches from one end of this galaxy to the next." The camera then cut to several live images of ships and war crafts descending from space, entering through the atmosphere, or landing on Earth soil, though still with Balador's voice speaking. "Though, if we want our goals of complete Galactic domination, we must have your 'blue and pure world' as you call it. That is why we've sent numerous armies down to Earth, to destroy your military forces, and take control of your entire planet, completing our desires. After all, right now, you're our one, sole, but powerful target". The camera then switched back to Balador, whose smirk had grown.

"And before I end this message, I'd like to make a statement loud and clear to a certain young man who now resides on your planet. That young man being- Xigo Shigora."

At the base, Xigo's eyes widened, and his heart beat like a bongo drum as every single person in the Docking Bay turned towards him, and gazed at the young man in bemusement. Several more gasps could be heard throughout the hangar, notably from Jina and Iryn, who were almost frozen in place upon hearing Balador say his name.

"Xigo, we know you're alive and down there" Varo continued, "and we're disappointed that you've chosen this path. Your friend from your school happily joined us, we were hoping we could have your talents on the side of Giyre. But alas, we've known that you somehow learned of our motives before this proclamation, and saw what happened at your station. You were smart though for your choice, taking the Valor and escaping before we could have any chance of chasing you down. You see, after we found out of your departure to Earth, we stole all the Mobile Suits and military equipment at your school, and then blew it to pieces, with the rest of the instructors and students there that defied us. You may be with the Earth now, but let me tell you, we'll make our attempts to bring you to us, and if you do not choose to join Giyre; we'll destroy along with the rest of that planet…". As Xigo became even more nervous from hearing Balador speak, more eyes widened inside the Docking Bay, as the people there all stood in disbelief. Especially Logan, Rodka, Jina and Iryn, who could not take in what they heard about their friend.

"Now then, I have no more to say. So with that, I bid you all of Earth goodbye, as well as to your home…" Balador finished.

The transmission ended across the world, and all over Earth were people beginning to chatter over what they just witnessed, while many were speechless from the proclamation. But if there was one thing they all had in common, it was their feeling of horror.

Though, at the New Alaska Base, the main concern was the shocking words about Xigo, who had now become calmer as he stood in place, glancing around at all the people around the hangar. He felt as if all eyes were upon him, and for good reason at that. Knowing that everyone there was most affected by the speaking about himself, Shigora understood what he was in for.

"I guess I got some explaining to do…" he then stated as he tried to smile through his embarrassment.


	4. Phase 3 First Impression

**_Phase 3- First Impression_**

Xigo was most of the time a calm, cool, collected teen, rarely showing a negative emotion. Even more, it was uncommon that he would expose any feel of fear and worry. It was some sort of natural flair he had, the ability to remain composed or conceal it within himself even in the more difficult positions.

And right now, he was doing all too well at that.

In a large hall with a long table in the back, very similar to the council room of the ZAFT Headquarters, the young Shigora stood in the center, staring in the eye a group the New Alaska Base Officials, including Commander Cerrical and Captain Arelie. To the sides of Xigo were three rows on each wall of personal from the area. Logan, Rodka, Jina and Iryn all sat together, with Gartol and Shirta to one side, and Major Taro to the other.

There was very severe court going on, and it had been for the last ten minutes. It was, as expected, meant to decide on how to rule Xigo's actions, that being; coming into the base illegally, and not warning anything about Giyre while he had much knowledge of the organization. The Commander and Captain, as well as some of the other important Board Members, were quite displeased by this whole thing, and their current attitudes portrayed that.

"You were not meant to be the exchange pilot from your base in space were you Xigo?" Arelie stated. The young man shook his head.

"No, it was another high-class student that was supposed to come. I got out before him of course, well, more like survived, and came down here playing that act" he added.

"You do realize that's a serious offense to the military, correct? Lying to us and claiming to be another person" Arelie strongly spoke. Xigo didn't seem too fazed by that comment.

"I know that, and I have understandable reason for that. My only chance of living through that destruction. That place got blown to bits, nearly everyone there died, anyone who didn't join Giyre" Shigora shot back. The Commander then took over for the moment.

"Yes, going into that, tell us, how did you find out about all about them?" Cerrical asked. Xigo gave a quiet sigh.

"Well, as you may expect, the Board of the School allowed them to come in for a meeting, after all at that time they were using the 'neutral colony' crapola, so they didn't suspect anything" the young man began, "I had been walking down the hallway while they had their little meeting, and I overheard some of the shit, which quickly got my attention. Anyways I stood by and listened in, getting the parts about what Giyre actually was, and all of their plans. More importantly, I caught how they wanted me and my friend, the other best pilot there, to join them, as well as the rest of the school. I heard the board members refuse and begin to go crazy, before the guy, that Balador, explained that they'd personally talk to me and my buddy, and then destroy all of the school. A few gunshots later, I made a bee-line outta there, and tried to find my friend to leave with him. I couldn't get to him, and even though I consider it now a bit cowardly, I took the Valor and left, making for course for Earth here. By the time I was a half-hour away from the base, it was gone from my computer map, and from there I knew it had been destroyed. I had no place else to go to, except here, and where I knew I could taken in fine". By the time Xigo had finished, several people in the crowds were murmuring to each other, while the majority stared at him with widened eyes. The Commander though, wasn't one of those people.

"Then tell me, why didn't you warn us at first about them? Before we and the rest of the planet found out…" she interrogated. Xigo was beginning to get his 'cool' back, as he now gave Cerrical his own narrowed eyes.

"I was here for a month last time, I may've made friends with you guys, but do you know me completely? Hell no" Shigora replied, "look at it realistically Commander, what would you all have done if I jumped outta that Gundam from fifty feet, ran to you guys like a scolded dog and spat out all of what happened in ten seconds? You all would've thought I crazy, hell, I'm sure even a lot of the people here wouldn't believe me. Without proof like Balador gave, the entire idea sounds less believable than a rock spontaneously combusting. I wanted to give some time to settle in with you all, so it may've been easier on you to hear the truth. Any other way would've been insane, don't deny it Commander". Eyes widened even more from the onlookers from that comment, and even the Captain and Commander Cerrical looked a bit surprised by the bold remark. Major Taro though managed to smirk.

"Kid's still got the same spunk as he did before" the man muttered out loud in his seat. The Commander's and Xigo's met strongly, the two of them staring at one another without flinching. Neither would be intimidated, but one would have to submit eventually.

And with a light sigh, the Commander did that.

"Well, that's certainly reasonable Xigo, though still against military code and law. But lucky for you, you're not a part of the Earth Alliance Military, so we cannot hand out any form of punishment like that". Everyone person to the side of the courtroom stood up from their crowd and created a mass of cheers and hollers, as Xigo gave a great sigh of relief where he stood, now getting a real smile back as his face as the other New Alaska Base personal began to clap for him. Though oddly, he signaled for them to stop, and once they did he looked back at the Commander, more serious than he was in the last few moments.

"But um, you see Commander Cerrical, even if it would put me at some type of sentence, I'd like more than anything now to join the Earth Alliance Military" Xigo stated. The young man got many surprised looks from the crowds, and even Cerrical and Arelie both looked slightly taken aback by the comment.

"Wait, you're saying you want to stay here for the rest of your life, and work as soldier for the Earth?" Arelie questioned, not very much understanding Xigo's intentions. But the young man nodded.

"Yes, and there's no time better than now" he began, "Giyre's already sent down many troops onto this planet, you're all going to need as much help as you can get against these guys. They killed nearly every single person at the school I went to, all the instructors that I looked up to and wanted to be like…they slaughtered them all!" he shouted as he started to seem intensified through his speech. "And if there's any place that was home besides my school, it was right here, on Earth, at the New Alaska Base. I was a coordinator, from a ZAFT Base, when you guys didn't know a thing about me, but you let me into your base, and treated me like one you all. All of you made the effort to make me feel comfortable, and many made the effort to befriend me. I liked it here better than I did at my school, hell, I _loved _it here, I wished for more than anything to be able to come back and stay forever.

"You see, I wasn't born in a PLANT, my parents actually lived here on Earth, and gave birth to me here, on this planet. When they died though, a couple short years later, I was sent with my one aunt to live with my uncle, who was in a PLANT. Then when I was little older, he sent me to the school I was attending, and from there I stay trained and worked with Mobile Suits."

"I'm Earth-born, and now Giyre is threatening to destroy my home-planet, and this base that I consider my true home. Please Commander Cerrical, Captain Arelie, and the rest of the Board, allow me to defend what I keep close to my heart…" Shigora finished off. By then the crowds were silent, but many appeared emotionally affected by the oration Xigo had just said, including the near teary-eyed Jina and Iryn. The Commander looked back and forth with Arelie and the other Board members, whispering all around as Xigo and the rest of the people watched on anxiously to see what she'd say.

And soon, she looked back at him, and stood up from her chair with a smile.

"Xigo Shigora, as soon as I talk to the General of the Earth Military, you'll be an official soldier, but for now, you can still consider yourself that under my order" Commander Cerrical contently declared. Once more the crowd erupted in cheers, and Xigo's face never looked more pleased as he nodded back at her.

"Thank you Commander" not very loud, but in way that she knew what he meant.

And then, the alarm went off.

"Red alert! Red alert! Giyre forces moving in towards California shore, military bases there request back-up assistance from us!" the person on the sound system heralded. Some of the people went into a brief state of pandemonium, until the Captain literally jumped over the table and began to give out orders.

"No time for fooling around people we got a battle ready to go on here! All technicians to the Communications center, mechanics to the Docking Bay, Mobile Suit pilots get to your machines and be ready to be loaded up in ships! Let's move!" she shouted. Like little children from their angered mother, the personal of the New Alaska Base, dashed out from the room, all moving in their mass to wherever they were located for situations like this. As they did, Commander Cerrical then went over to Captain Arelie.

"Should we take the Order out to deploy the Gundams?" she asked. The Captain nodded.

"It'd be the best idea, considering the ships may even see some combat" Arelie explained. Xigo then came over to the two young women, apparently reluctant to be there.

"May I be allowed to go out and join the troops Commander?" he inquired with a salute. Cerrical smiled, trying to not to chuckle as she put her hand on the teen's shoulder.

"I said you were a soldier didn't I?". Xigo smirked instantly.

* * *

Several hours later, inside the Giyre Headquarters, Balador stood behind a seated-technician at one of the main control panels in the Communications Base. The wicked man was quite pleased by his message earlier in the day to the entire Earth, feeling that he got the idea across well, which indeed he had. More importantly, he was even more content with the recent news that all of the military forces he had sent to deploy on the planet had arrived at their given targets, and already several were beginning to set up secret bases across the continents.

And already, he had one group flying in to the West Coast of America, ready to unleash the first attack on the only remaining enemy for the Galactic Invasion Regime.

"What are their current coordinates?" Balador asked the technician.

"Right now they're at one-hundred twenty-four degrees West, thirty-seven degrees North" the man answered, gazing at the computer screen which showed a map of the Pacific Ocean.

"Can you get into contact with them?" Balador pressed.

"Sure, what would you like me to link with?" the technician replied.

"The Demolition" Varo answered back. With a nod, the man turned back to the control panel, and turned on the one radio. After adjusting the frequency, he turned on the speakers and tested the connection.

"Demolition Gundam, do you read?". In the next three seconds, a large, grinning man inside a cockpit appeared on the monitor. He wore a thick green vest, and had sleek brown hair, which a few strands of ran down to thick eyebrows.

"Yeah, Ragoss here, what is it?" he responded. Balador didn't bother to take a speaker to talk into.

"How much longer do you think until you'll arrive there?" he asked. The big man shrugged.

"I don't know, three to five minutes maybe, why?". Balador smirked.

"Because that's exactly the perfect time. By now the Earth Forces will have most surely organized reinforcements, as the California Shore doesn't have much defense, especially where you guys are attacking".

"Yeah! San Francisco's goin' down!" the Gundam pilot replied. Balador still smirked.

"Well then you don't know half of it. You see, it's almost definite that the Earth Alliance will send out the Gundams from the New Alaska Base, as we've found that's where San Francisco sent messages for back-up troops. Which means, you'll have the fun of destroying them, even the Valor" the leader of Giyre explained. Ragoss's eyes lit up.

"Are you serious? Oh man that's great! Now I can smash that lil maggot into the ground!" he exclaimed.

"Well make sure your entire troupe executes the attack perfectly, or you may not have as much luck. Let the GINNS go first to clear some of the path for you and the ZuOOTs, and after a while the GINN WASPs can surprise attack from another side of the city. This is an important mission, after all, this is our first major attack, we've gotta give a fine demonstration of our power" Balador added. The Demolition's pilot grinned again and nodded.

"You got it sir, we won't let ya down" he replied. Balador nodded back.

"Good, now get back you your work".

"No problem, I'll smash those guys for ya!" Ragoss yelled, and then ended the transmission. The technician also turned off the communication between them, and looked back up at a grinning Balador.

"Sir, do you honestly think they'll be able to destroy everything?" he asked. Varo snickered.

"Heh, God no".

**A moment later, the main monitor switched to the image of three young men clad in Giyre piloting uniforms, all saluting.**

**"Reporting Sir!" they exclaimed. Balador turned back to the screen, apparently pleased by what it showed.**

**"Ahh you three, good to see you" Varo greeted with his usual smirk as he stared at the teens. All of them had fine facial features, and appeared to be of the same age. The one with smooth, glistening black hair running down his head, and deep green eyes was named Nitras Dolorga. In the middle was Sakara Zanakal, with a head of rich goldenrod hair that appeared to run backwards to his neck. Then on the end was the messy, mid-length orangey-red haired young man named Uusiko Eraddar. Amazingly, these three teens were the most dangerous, and important team of pilots to Giyre, and recognized as one of the most powerful.**

**After all, they were Giyre's sole Gundam Team.**

**"I'm sorry that I called for you all again, but I'd just like to make sure that you all know about your operation, correct?". Nitras nodded.**

**"Of course sir, infiltrate the weapon warehouses while the battle in the city occurs, and take whatever we can before the fighting's done" he replied. Balador nodded contently.**

**"Good good, glad to hear that. And I take it all of your ALEs are ready to launch when the time comes?" he inquired.**

**"Yep, we've got 'em turned on and prepared to take flight when we arrive at the city" Sakara responded with a smirk of his own.**

**"Though sir, may I ask why we're not allowed to use our Gundams?" the grinning Uusiko asked. Varo actually chuckled at the remark.**

**"I figured you'd ask that, and I still can't help laughing" he first answered, and then got to the main focus, "you see Uusiko, if three Gundams enter the battlefield, or even the outskirts of it, the Earth Forces are going to be far more concerned about that, and center their attacks on you guys. But, if you go in the ALEs alongside some smaller ships and attacking GINN forces, they'll never pay attention to whatever you do. And from that you can completely raid the city's armories." Nitras gave a firm nod in reply, and unlike his teammates had a serious expression on his face.**

**"Understood Sir, our captains have just reported that we'll be landing in approximately ten minutes" Dolorga stated.**

**"Perfect, all should work out fine then. I do not wish to keep you waiting, so head to your suits now and be ready for the operation" Balador ordered.**

**"Yes sir!"**

**

* * *

**

Across the blue waves of the American West Coast moved a beautiful legged-ship. With gun turrets and beam cannons placed all across the outside, it was obviously a war-ship, and one of great power. The boosters in the back allowed for it to fly over the surface of the Pacific, soaring closer and closer to San Francisco as the battle there already began, with Giyre forces charging in and overwhelming the Earth Alliance Troops.

This ship was an exact copy in design from the two crafts the Archangel and the Dominion, which were used decades ago in the battle between Earth and ZAFT. Though, this one had some fine improvements in mechanics and weaponry, and also sported a stunning cyan tone. It was the main-ship for the New Alaska Base, and one of the strongest crafts the Earth Alliance had in its possession;

The Order.

"Pick up speed! The officers there report that they won't last longer than twenty minutes against the Giyre Forces!" Commander Cerrical shouted from her chair within the bridge of the ship. The boosters on the back of the ship increased in power, and the flame-like discharge grew in size as the great ship moved ahead.

Inside this one room, the head-officer of the New Alaska Base stayed perch on a tall-chair, with Captain Arelie below her, and several navigators, technicians, cartographers and communicators surrounding her at computers and monitors. Two of these people were Jina and Iryn, who had become some of the expert personal in these situations. Jina was one of the people who stayed on the radio and kept in contact with the Mobile Suits in the docking bay of the ship or on the battlefield, while Iryn was one of the technicians who watched the maps and radar.

It was shades of the Archangel's Crew so many years ago, with Commander Murre Ramius at the head.

"Alright, once we're within four miles of the city have the ship slow down. By then the Gundams will have made it in without being noticed that well, and we can assault any other groups from a long-ranged standpoint" Cerrical said aloud. Just as she finished, Iryn spotted something on her radar.

"Two Giyre Battleships moving in from the west to the city, they must've lagged behind from the others" the young girl stated. The Captain stood up from her seat and looked up at the monitor which showed the pair of crafts moving in.

"They've got a lot of missile launchers on them, and they seemed to have holders for Mobile Suits, if we don't take 'em down they could do massive damage" she declared, and glanced at the Commander, "do we have permission to attack?". Cerrical simply nodded. "Alright, aim Long-Range Helldarts and fire!" Arelie shouted.

On the outside of the Order, two large missile batteries opened up, and in an instant they unloaded some twenty projectiles each, sending them straight at the two moving battleships.

And they scored a direct hit.

Inside the Docking Bay, the Valor, Thunder, Blaze and Aile Strike were all being prepared to be launched on the rails. Their pilots were all set and ready inside the cockpit, and their systems on for battle. Unlike most Mobile Suit pilots, who wore an entire jumpsuit and helmet, Major Taro only usually wore the jumpsuit, while Logan and Rodka instead were garbed by simply their Earth Alliance Military uniforms, likewise with Xigo. Perhaps it could be said that it was an ego issue that they believed they didn't always need the full attire, or even that they were above the normal soldier, but whatever the reason, it was most surely true.

"You're clear to go Xigo" Jina said on the monitor inside the young man's cockpit. He nodded, and braced himself.

**But as he did, a wave of thoughts rushed through his mind. Both ideas and memories ran in his mind, the young man-reliving moments from the past to himself as in those split seconds he prepared to launch and set out into battle, against the forces of Giyre…**

**One specific memory was of him and his best friend at this school, a time after they had a grueling duel with their Gundams under the careful supervision of their top instructors. He and the other pilot walked down a hallway, still wearing their piloting suits, and holding a soft-drink in their hand as they made their way through the corridor, talking with each other along the way.**

**"That had to be our best one yet bud!" Xigo said.**

**"Yeah I think you're right, we finally were able to hit each other this time!" his friend added.**

**"And that was the best part of it, especially when I nailed ya in the shoulder with my sword that one time!".**

**"Naah I think when I sent you flying straight into the wall with that one rifle-shot of mine took the cake, you nearly caved that entire thing in!".**

**"Well duh! It was my Gundam crashing into for God's sake. Any Mobile Suit would've did the damage I did, especially after one of those energy blasts you hit me with" .**

**"Yeah and that's why I had the best hit!".**

**"Ohh no don't go thinkin' that! At least I was floored instantly by your shot, when I hit you, your Gundam was on its back in a second!".**

**The two continued their conversation with each other as they turned a corner and headed down another hallway, the both of them determined to prove the other wrong in their playful-argument.**

**Nearly a year ago, a chat between Xigo Shigora, and Nitras Dolorga.**

**Then Xigo flashed back to reality.**

"Gundam Valor- launching!" he yelled. With that the computer screens gave the 'clear' signal, and the rails pushed the Valor forward, and in a few short seconds the cord attached to it released, and the gorgeous cobalt and white machine took off into the skies.

"Gundam Thunder- launching!" Logan cried.

"Gundam Blaze- launching!" Rodka shouted. With that the pair of original Earth Alliance Gundams flew out from their Launch-Halls, and flew off to catch up with the Valor. Using a special flight-pad called an Oaro, the Thunder was able to keep up with the flight-orientated machines.

"Aile Strike- launching!" Taro yelled, and was released from the ship as his flight-pack moved him through the air and to the other Gundams. "Alright boys, let's take care of business!".

* * *

Several hours before, when the first spotting of the oncoming Giyre forces occurred, the city was immediately put into a state of evacuation. As whatever military troops and weapons could be relished and sent into the streets, the innocent civilians of one of America's biggest municipalities were moved out and away from the entire area.

And for good reason.

It was a brutal battle that continued to rage on within the steel and concrete maze of San Francisco, with explosions rocking the region every second. Fires dotted the area, and many buildings and structures had been reduced to rubble from the fighting. The sound of detonations and gun-fire echoed through the metropolis, making all of the city feel like one giant war zone.

Most of the Earth Alliance forces had been put into the commercial district, where the majority of the Giyre troops had entered and continued to stay. GINNs flew overhead and all around in the air, creating a rain of bullets down to the streets, ripping apart the concrete roads, and often tearing apart several Strike Daggers and the new mass-produced Mobile Suit of the Earth Alliance; Rollers.

Big and bulky, and with a chestnut hue, these machines moved only with the help of a pair of treads and small wheels that kept it going, a mixture of a tank and Mobile Suit. Whatever ones still standing in San Francisco slowly moved along the pathways of the area, shooting off powerful energy beams from the twin cannons on their shoulders. Endless blasts flew through the sky, most being evaded by the GINNs, though every so often one of the unlucky mechanical soldiers would be blasted into pieces.

Adding to the Roller's assault were small groups of hidden Missile Batteries, which now began to be activated. The packs rose up from underground holding spaces, and quickly aimed at whatever Giyre troops were around, whether on the ground in the air. From each one shot ten infrared-to-infrared rockets, sending hails of the rockets all around the city. More buildings were blasted by misguided shots, but also more GINNs in the sky were blown to bits from the sudden attack.

"What the hell? Someone destroy those things!" a higher-rank soldier cried from his machine in the air. With that some ten GINNs flew down into the streets of San Francisco, soaring like falcons with their many twists and turns as their MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault machine guns poured steady streams of bullets that destroyed every Missile Launcher they came to, as well as any Strike Daggers that were only in pairs or groups of three or four.

On one of the larger streets, a lone ZuOOT moved down the path, firing its beam cannons at a trio of Strike Daggers that stood in place, retaliating with their 57mm Beam Rifles. Though numbers game overcame the superior armament of the once-ZAFT Mobile Suit, and after two beam shots through the body, the ZuOOT exploded in a ball of fire.

The pilots in the Strike Daggers took their moment to celebrate, pleased that they took down the powerful machine.

"Yeah take ya space-freak!" one cried.

"We can take on _any _of those Giyre morons!" another added.

The third pilot would made his own comment, but before he could, another ZuOOT came crashing through a supermarket building behind them, and with one shot from each Dual Cannon, destroyed the three Strike Daggers.

* * *

Within one of the large city squares of San Francisco, a group of Strike Daggers and two Rollers took part in a scrimmage against another group of GINNs and ZuOOTs aloft on one of the highway bridges. Though even with numerous beams, rockets, missiles and bullets flying back at forth, no side was able to do much damage to the other's forces.

"Shoot at the bridge-stands, take it down!" one of the Dagger pilots exclaimed. Two of the Mobile Suits aimed their Beam Rifles at the pillars that kept the bridge up, and quickly fired. The beams easily broke through the concrete material, and with that the bridge collapsed under the Giyre machines. They became lost in a cloud of dust, but the two Rollers swiftly added to the attack by firing a large spherical bomb from their chest, which flew at where the bridge once was and blasted the area with tremendous explosions.

"Alright! We got 'em!" the Strike Dagger pilot from before yelled.

And at that moment, a large deep indigo Gundam came flying towards them.

"Yeah, but now I got you!" Ragoss shouted from inside the Demolition. He then sent his huge ball-and-chain weapon swinging at the Earth Mobile Suits, smashing the Rollers to pieces, but just missing the Strike Daggers who took the air.

"Holy cow! It's a Gundam!" one of the Earth-soldiers cried. Ragoss grinned.

"Yep! Formerly under ZAFT control, but now far better fighting for Giyre!" the large man yelled, swinging his weapon around. The two Strike Daggers he intended to hit just managed to dodge again, and the huge metal ball tore straight through a building, sending the rest toppling to the ground.

"God dang that's thing's powerful!" one of the Earth soldier shouted. Two Missile Batteries then rose up from the ground, and aimed up at the Demolition, who turned to them just as Ragoss spotted them. Before the rockets from the launchers were even ready to fire, the Demolition unleashed a spray of bullets from its Eight 100mm CIWS Igelstellung. The bullets tore through the batteries like paper, and in a second exploded as the missiles contained within them were pierced.

And Ragoss wasn't done yet. As he finished destroying the missile launchers, the five remaining Strike Daggers revealed their ES01 Beam Sabers, and charged at the Giyre Gundam. With another grin, the pilot pressed a pair of red buttons on his control panel, and quickly three tubes opened up on each of the huge shoulders of the Demolition, and a Pod-Rocket shot from each one. The came at the Strike Daggers in mere seconds, and altogether created a massive detonation that blew the machines away.

Inside his machine, Ragoss looked on another screen at a shot of the Northern Docks area for San Francisco, which was now being overrun by GINN WASPs which emerged from the waters. The blue Mobile Suits unleashed showers of rockets and torpedoes, blowing apart the port-area and massacring all Rollers and Strike Daggers there. He began to laugh, a twisted grin still on his gritty face.

"I've been waiting for this much fun for years!" he shouted.

* * *

The Aile Strike, Blaze, Thunder and Valor were now closing in on San Francisco, passing by the amazingly-intact Golden Gate Bridge, and getting a glimpse now of all the battles going on, including what enemies they were up against.

"Well I don't like to abandon a team so soon, but I'm flying in after those GINNs" Taro declared, and gave himself a boost in speed to move into the city. Rodka had then noticed the carnage down by the docks.

"I'll take care of the harbor" the teen said, and turned to head in their direction, "that's a whole lotta targets to blow away…" he muttered to himself then with a smirk.

"And I'll get that Gundam!" Xigo and Logan said at the same time. The moment Dile realized that they both 'called' it in unison, he quickly made his own remark.

"No way Xigo let me take care of that guy, better for a big, brawling Gundam to take on another just like it" he said. Xigo smirked.

"Yeah but a quick one like mine can just out-maneuver it and tear it apart" Shigora replied.

"You won't have such an easy time destroying against a machine of that size" Logan retaliated. Xigo chuckled a bit to himself.

"Fine, first one to get there then has him!" he yelled, and in a flash the Valor got a boost from its jet packs, and soared away to the Demolition. Logan's face twisted with aggravation as he was taken aback for a moment by Xigo's abrupt departure.

"Hey! Since when can you get a frickin' head start?" the pilot of the Thunder shouted. Just then another screen appeared on his monitor, with Commander Cerrical seated in the bridge of the Order.

"Just let him go fight it Logan, head down to the docks and help Rodka. There's swarms of GINN WASPs there and you're perfect for taking out large amounts of Mobile Suits at once" the woman stated. Logan narrowed his eyes a bit growled in his irritation, but then turned his Gundam to the side and began to fly down to the harbor.

"Whatever you say…" he muttered.

Two Strike Daggers hovered together in the air, both firing off shots of their Beam Rifles, trying to hit the Demolition and finally take it down. Though every shot they unleashed, Ragoss was able to move the bulky machine out of the way, and evade it just as the others.

"Geez, you Naturals really are a bunch of weaklings!" he cried with a toothy grin, and flung his Ball and Chain Smasher, completely wrecking the machines in one attack. "Come on, where's the real challenge?" Ragoss asked aloud.

"Right here!" Xigo shouted in return. Ragoss was surprised for a moment, and looked down at one of his side monitor to see the Valor flying him. He grinned once again, and turned to face the Gundam, who stopped in the air some twenty-five meters from him.

"Ahh, the Valor Gundam! And wouldn't ya know it, you're that kid Xigo! The one that ran away from us!" Ragoss mocked.

"And I'm damn happy about it! I managed to joined an army that doesn't need to steal other Nation's Gundams to be powerful" Shigora struck back.

"Oh you're mistaken boy. Giyre is the strongest thing to ever be seen in this Universe, but in the process of taking almost complete control of ZAFT, we gained some excellent Mobile Suits, and a fine group of Gundams like the Demolition here! Why not use 'em to their full extent?". Xigo's glare hardened.

"Because like the others; this one will be destroyed!" the teen cried back. Ragoss smiled.

"Oh really…?" he said, "try it!". With that he sent his ball and chain flying like a torpedo at the Valor, but the cobalt machine flew away from it just in time as it smashed into another building. "Hmm, impressive, but can you stay away from _two_?" Ragoss yelled, and revealed another ball and chain. For a moment Xigo's eyes widened, but in the next he jumped back to focusing on the battle, and soared away as the Demolition swung its new weapon at him. Once again it smashed apart a building, that being a large hotel. Ragoss attacked with the other, swinging it full-force at him, and once again just missing as the Valor dodged it.

But just as Xigo thought he was safe for a moment, the enemy Gundam suddenly pulled back its weapons, and swung them once again with amazing speed. Knowing he wasn't able to evade them, Shigora pulled out his fabulous longsword, and held it out to block the attacks. The first one was held back, but the force knocked the Valor aside, and the second shot did the same.

"Ha! Take this!" Ragoss screamed, and sent them both flying at him at the same time. Xigo gritted his teeth, and had the Valor pull its arms back with the longsword in hand. Then as the ball and chains came to him, the Valor swung its sword, slicing the heavy spheres in half and destroying the rest of the chain.

"You're goin' down!" Xigo cried. Ragoss smirked, and the Demolition then pulled out a third Ball and Chain Smasher from behind its back.

"I'm not done with you just yet kid!".

* * *

The GINN WASPs slowly moved upon the shattered floor of the docks area, with enormous fires blazing all across the harbor. The water became polluted with debris and rubble, and nearly two dozen of the Earth Alliance Mobile Suits were wrecked. And now the dangerous blue machines from Giyre continued to advance, slowly making their way into the city…

And then from the streets came a stream of fiery-orange projectiles, striking one of the WASPs and tearing it apart. All the water-Mobile Suits stopped in surprise from the attack, and then suddenly a yellow beam of energy shot through another, blowing it to bits.

The Thunder and the Blaze Gundams came flying in, with Rodka shooting off continuous shots from his Napalm Grenade Launcher, destroying endless GINN WASPs in blasts of fire.

"Wooooo-hooo! Look at all sittin' ducks we get to blast Logan!" Redwing shouted from his cockpit. Dile on the other hand was still a bit incensed from having to let Xigo go fight the Gundam.

"Bad day to be my targets guys…" Logan growled. A square-flap opened up on the Thunder's left shoulder, revealing six missile barrels. In and instant he sent dozens of them flying, blowing away entire groups of the GINN WASPs at once, and creating a chain of explosions that rocked the rest of the harbor.

The GINNs in the skies were now having much trouble, no longer attacking the troops down at the city, but instead focusing on the one Aile Strike that zipped all around, massacring their forces single-handedly. Taro was having no trouble fighting against then odds, all of what he needed right now was the pair of burning-hot beam sabers the Aile Strike held in its hands. Every time he passed by another GINN, one of the energy-enhanced swords cut clear through their armor, either slicing them or two or destroying them in a ball of fire from their wrecked circuitry.

"Damn these guys are easy, wonder if they'd be harder to take down if I just used the rifles" the Major said to himself from inside his cockpit. The Aile Strike then stopped in mid-air, and put back both beam sabers in their holders. From it's thighs it released it's pair of 57mm High-Energy Beam Rifles, and after aiming at two GINNs for a split second fired them both off. A green shot of energy cut straight through them, freezing them in the air for a moment before they exploded like the others. Taro shrugged. "Guess not…ahh well I'll still shoot 'em all down!".

* * *

**Nearly a mile from where all the battling was occurring in the city, the two Giyre ships had landed, and opened their back-ends as entire groups of men were running back and forth from large storage house, all working together to carry huge boxes of ammo into the crafts. Helping to the work were the three ALEs that the young men from Giyre were piloting, heavily armored, indigo Mobile Suits with long back-pieces running from their heads. Each one was working like the men below, grabbing large crates of ammunition and taking them to the ships, where'd they carefully stack them in the supply-rooms of the Berga-Class Crafts.**

**Another ALE landed, this one coming from the outer-regions of the battlefield, returning from a patrol of the situation.**

**"Don't worry guys, we got all the time in the world now! Some new blue and gold Gundam is fighting the Demolition!" the pilot inside it declared. Nitras's eyes widened as his face twisted.**

**"Well that's a relief, there's more in that building than we thought!" Sakara said as his ALE moved back to the warehouse. But while all the others continued working, Nitras positioned his ALE towards the fighting, and on his screen spotted the Valor dueling with the Demolition in the air.**

**"No way…Xigo…" he whispered.**

**

* * *

**

The Valor continued moving all around in the air, dodging the many, and fast swipes from the Demolition's wrecking ball. Xigo was trying to stay conscious of all the buildings around him, and to attempt not to have the ball smash into them, though he found it much more difficult than he imagined, not always staying in a spot where another structure wouldn't be reduced to rubble. Sometimes he tried to block the weapon with his longsword, or smack it away with a slash of his own weapon, but the density, weight, and sheer force of it often made him just lose more balance in his Gundam.

"Ha! You're something else for just a kid, looks like I'll need to use more than my wrecking ball to take ya out!" Ragoss yelled. The eight machine-gun barrels on the Demolition's square-like head began to unload their ammo, shooting out in the midst of four yellow flashes on the Gundam's face. Xigo was taken by surprise by the attack, and put the Valor's speed to work as he flew up along the side of a small skyscraper.

As he stayed ahead of the attack, he noticed the stream of bullets tearing through the building, and flying out the other side as they continued their path.

"Holy crap, there's no way those are normal Igelstellungs!" the young man said to himself. Xigo then flew away from the building, leaving the skyscraper still standing, but with a massive vertical hole in the center of it. Ragoss grinned.

"Oh-ho, that's not all I got!" the big man shouted, and held the stocky indigo and white Gundam hovering in the air. Once again the six slots on its spherical-shoulders opened up, and came them flew out the rocket pods, straight towards the Valor. Xigo strained as he tried to pull backwards away from the projectiles, though only managed to find himself between two tall buildings. The pods hit the structures, and engulfed the tops of them along with the Valor in a huge explosion. Ragoss's face lit up with his sick content.

"Alright! Blew that kid to nothing!".

For a few moments there was no sign of any movement in the great cloud of smoke, though the Giyre pilot couldn't see through it to see if the Valor truly was destroyed.

And quite unlucky for him.

A stream of bullets came flying out in a split second, and began to pelt the Demolition full force. Ragoss cried out as his Gundam shook from the attack, as Xigo flew out of the smoke, his Gundam holding its 170mm Sub-Machine Gun in its other hand.

"You've got one crazy idea of what 'nothing' is buddy!" Shigora yelled. In another second he put his Sub-Machine Gun away, and grasped both hands about the hilt of his longsword. The Valor took off at the Demolition, as Xigo prepared for a massive swing. "You're dead!".

And then, Ragoss smirked.

Like lightning, the wrecking ball flew down at the Valor, and in those split seconds while Shigora was amazed by the resiliency, he managed to move his Gundam to the side a bit, though only allowing for it to avoid half of the attack.

The ball and chain struck the Valor's chest hard, and caused Xigo to lose control from the force of the hit. The Demolition then brought it back, and swung it around as the chain eventually wrapped about the Valor like a snake.

"Ha! Fry kid!" he yelled, and turned the chain's heat option on the wrecking-ball on. The link's temperature increased with incredible heat, turning it red and burning the Valor. Inside his cockpit Xigo screamed for a moment from the intense heat, and began quickly began to sweat and breathe heavily from the horrible conditions. Ragoss grinned. "Try and get outta this one! I dare ya!" he taunted. Xigo gritted his teeth, and through the awful feeling, pressed a button on of his control sticks.

With that the longsword became engulfed by cyan-flame, and in one flash slashed at the chain, cutting it off with ease. The Valor's upper arms then pushed against the remainder of it, swiftly shattering it all into pieces as it freed itself. Ragoss's eyes bulged as he cried out in shock.

"What the hell? No way!" the man shouted. Wasting no more time, Xigo flew at the Demolition, readying his flaming-blade.

"This is for every innocent person you've killed you bastard!" Shigora screamed. Ragoss became petrified in his seat as he watched in horror of the oncoming Gundam, gasping repeatedly as the Valor got closer and closer. And when it passed by, its blade flashed again, leaving a red cut-mark across the Demolition's upper body. In another second the entire Gundam broke into two pieces, only to then became trillions as they both exploded in a blast of fire.

Still in the Aile Strike, Major Taro spotted the blast on the edge of his monitor, and like the rest of the GINNs turned his machine towards it to get a full view.

"Well God-dang, the kid did it!" the veteran pilot exclaimed. All the Giyre troops sat wide-eyed at the sight of the dissipating fire where the Demolition once was, frozen in disbelief that it had been destroyed.

"No way…Ragoss got killed?" one of the Giyre soldiers yelled.

"How in the world could that have happened?" another added.

"Screw that! Let's get outta here before it happens to us!" the high-rank pilot stated, and turned his GINN around and took off. Quickly the rest followed, all flying across the city and heading out to the Ocean to escape.

Until they met with an entire squad of Moebius Zeroes.

"Don't even think about getting away guys" the leader of the regiment said with a smirk, "open fire!". In an instant the Mobile Armors released their four Wired Gunbarrels and let them unload of the trapped GINNs. The Giyre Mobile Suits quickly began to be ripped apart by the shots, every one of them being destroyed the massive attack.

At one point a few misguided shots flew Taro's way, and the man was just able to move the Aile Strike out of the way to avoid them.

"Whoa! Watch where you're aiming those things!".

About two miles from the city, everyone in the bridge of the Order sat in their seats watching the destruction of the rest on the GINNs on the main monitor, still themselves surprised by the sudden appearance of the group of Moebius Zeroes, which had begun to be mass-produced not more than five years ago.

Captain Arelie was the only one standing, though more of leaning over on her control panel as he read the messages from Logan and Rodka at the harbor.

"Commander, I've just been reported that the Thunder and the Blaze have destroyed all of the GINN WASPs, and the Demolition is confirmed to be destroyed also" the young woman said aloud. Cerrical smiled.

"So in other words we've won huh?" she asked. Arelie looked up at her, smiling back.

"You got it" she replied.

Still in the air, high above most of the buildings in the area, the Valor stood, hovering with the help of its boosters. Its longsword was back to normal, no longer burning with its stunning blue flames. Inside the cockpit, Xigo still held onto his control sticks, and sat with his head lowered as he breathed heavily. After a few seconds he looked up at the monitor, and saw the last GINN be destroyed by the Moebius Zeroes. In an instant he could hear the many hoots and hollers on his radio from the celebrating pilots, and before long a screen of Major Taro appeared on his monitor.

"We did it kid! We took 'em all out! We won!" he exclaimed. Still catching his breath, Xigo smiled.

**And then the screen switched to another pilot; Nitras.**

**"Xigo? Xigo Shigora?" the Giyre pilot asked. Xigo's body nearly froze in place when Nitras appeared on his monitor, the teen in disbelief of what he saw. With his eyes bulging, and his body petrified, he barely managed to speak.**

**"Nitras?" he exclaimed. The young Dolorga narrowed his eyes sternly.**

**"Yeah, it's me, I'm on a private connection with you from my own Mobile Suit" he said.**

**"Are-are you wearing a Giyre uniform?" Xigo questioned, noticing his friend's suit. Nitras didn't even bother to look down at it.**

**"I am, and I see by your suit that you've joined the Earth Alliance" Nitras replied. Xigo's eyes now lit up with anger.**

**"What are you doing with Giyre? Why would you join those evil bastards?" Shigora shouted.**

**"I can see that you don't know Giyre's intentions for this war, you know nothing do you?" Nitras questioned.**

**"I know that they're a bunch of devils who want complete control of the galaxy!" Xigo yelled. Nitras's tone grew fiercer.**

**"For the better of humanity they want that!" he yelled back, surprising Xigo, "Giyre has been taking the most least-violent approaches to this campaign to take control of ZAFT, as well as the Earth Alliance. They want to unite both nations under one rule, and live in a world where both Naturals and Coordinators live in peace! Where people don't have to be separated by their birth-origin, where there isn't such a segregation! Giyre will bring order and equality to this world!".**

**"And you expect all this war and bloodshed to bring it about?" Xigo screamed.**

**"Fighting is something we can't stop, it is the only way to take over the Earth and Space, so we can create a nation where all people can live as one human-being, not the idea of Naturals and Coordinators which has divided humanity so horribly" Nitras explained. Xigo grunted in aggravation from his friends words, but finding himself at loss for what to say back in reply. Though Dolorga quickly continued before anything else. "Now let me ask you, why have you joined the Earth Alliance?" he asked. Shigora's expression hardened.**

**"Because I have people I love in their military. There are people who care about me from the New Alaska Base, where I made all my friends during my trip there from the pilot-exchange program" Xigo strongly answered. Nitras nodded calmly.**

**"Exactly how I feel with Giyre from my trip" he added. Xigo's eyes widened again, the young man taken aback by his friend's statement speechless at the same time. "I'll end our connection now Xigo, so I must say goodbye. But let me warn you, if we meet on the battlefield…we have to fight against each other…" Nitras finished, and with a push of a button in his ALE's cockpit, the screen of him vanished from Xigo's monitor, leaving a shocked, confused, and saddened young Shigora to himself.**


	5. Phase 4 New Insurance

_note- I have added in a few forgotten sections into phase 3, they're all bolded to be recognized easier, I'd highly suggest reading them to understand the rest of the story. Sorry for the inconvience  
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* * *

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**_Phase 4- New Insurance_**

Nearly a day after the battle at San Francisco, Nitras stood in one of the docking bays of the former ZAFT Headquarters, clad in the normal jet and white-colored uniform of Giyre. His pair of green eyes gazed up his fabulous Gundam from his ZAFT Piloting School, painted with a color like night, and other parts with beautiful tones of red and yellow. One with a taller-thinner head than most Gundams, and with a horn-like extrusion, but giving it a sense of power, strength, and ability. A fine beam-rifle attached to its arm, and to its sides a pair of curved blades, making its name- the Double Edge Gundam, fit.

As the boy still gazed at up the amazing machine, he could hear two men talking down the one hallway, and out of the corner of his eye he could Balador walking alongside another high-rank officer, this one with shoulder-length silver hair, and his uniform mostly white than the usual black. Before long as they continued their conversation, Balador noticed the boy standing before the Gundam, and turned his attention over him instead.

"Ahh there you are Nitras, good to see you" Varo greeted. The teen turned fully to the leader of Giyre and gave a salute.

"The same Sir" he said.

"Are you prepared enough for tomorrow's attack now? Soon after that last operation?" Balador asked. Nitras nodded.

"Yes sir, I should be fine" the boy answered. The white-uniform man next to Balador now spoke.

"Perfect, you have nothing to worry about. You'll have the other two from your team with you, and I'll be out there as well" the Sergeant explained. The young pilot's eyes widened.

"You mean, you're going as well Sergeant Worlat?" Nitras questioned. The ace-pilot of Giyre nodded.

"Aye, it is an aerial-based after all, and I think you know about that Gundam we got from ZAFT, the Jet".

"Yes, I do, will you be piloting it?".

"I will, I'm the only air-combat pilot qualified enough for it. And let me tell you, by some test videos I've watched and even just reading over the blue-prints it's a powerful machine, far better than the Demolition even" Worlat answered. Balador smirked.

"This is quite the big operation Nitras, remember that. It's not every day that we're sending in the Roc, as well as four Gundams" Varo said. Nitras nodded. "But be warned, I'm sure the Earth Alliance will send in its own share of Gundams, Mobile Armors and Mobile Suits, so it'll be quite the challenge. Likewise, I'm sure _Xigo_ will be on the battlefield…". Nitras's eyes narrowed at the mentioning of the young man's name.

"I will show no mercy sir". Balador cocked an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? That is your long-time friend out there don't forget, I'm sure he won't be in any perfect shape to fight the only friend he had while at that school, the one person that treated him well. I do not want you to let your emotions, or past get in the way of your mission" Varo went on.

"He is an official soldier to the enemy force Sir; therefore he is an enemy to me" Nitras firmly spoke. Sergeant Worlat appeared impressed.

"I think he speaks the truth Balador, he seems to be the perfect pilot for Giyre" the air-pilot said. Balador nodded in agreement.

"That he is Sergeant, that he is. I trust in him as if he had served for us his entire life" Varo added. The leader then turned and began to walk back off towards the hallway he entered in, with Worlat following aside him once more. "Don't forget to attend today's gathering on the mission Nitras" Balador called out.

"I won't sir!" the young man called back. Once the two high-officials were completely gone, the teen turned back to his Gundam, gazing back up at the fabulous machine. He had now lost the fury he once bore in his eyes, and the intensified feeling in his body. In fact, he felt a weakness in his heart…

"Maybe I can put on an act for them Xigo, but how can I do it for you…on the battlefield…?" Nitras whispered to himself.

* * *

"So, it was you that sent that squad of Moebius Zeroes" Commander Cerrical said with a smirk as she stared at a computer screen with the General of the Earth Alliance Military on it. The middle-aged aged man chuckled.

"Yeah, I figured even your own four Gundams would still have a bit of a hard time taking on that massive onslaught of troops from Giyre, and if anything the Moebius Zeroes are the best bet for taking on large numbers of enemies" General Toros replied.

"Considering how they wiped out some twenty Ginns in a matter of forty seconds I think you're right" Cerrical added. The General smiled.

"Well I'm glad that operation worked, but now we still have much more to take care of…" he said, his voice losing the much more carefree tone it had before. The Commander's face was like so.

"Indeed. We've stopped now along the shore of Oregon, and giving our personal a chance to rest. Only the mechanics are working, and that's only on the Valor, which suffered some minor damage in the battle".

"And that's the one with the boy from the ZAFT school that was destroyed correct?" Toros asked. Cerrical nodded.

"Yes sir. I was wondering if you would do the procedure and writing to have him enlisted in our military, next time we see you" the woman said. The General nodded himself.

"That is fine, he is very much an asset to us now" he responded, "in fact, we can do it when your ship arrives here. Administrator Jorno has asked me to tell that he'd like for your ship and every one it to come her to our base in the Rockies. Apparently he's getting a large meeting together to discuss all of our military and political plans for this war". Cerrical nodded.

"Understood General, I'll have the ship directed and put on the move at once".

Further away from the Commander, still in the Docking Bay where she had been, the four Gundam pilots stood with Desial as they five men all looked up the group of mechanics who worked to repair the damage on the Valor.

"Pretty amazing that the thing didn't get scratched up even more than it did" Desial spoke. The man's eyes then wandered over the Blaze, Thunder and Aile Strike. "But how in the world did your Gundam get damaged when the other three look like they're brand new?". Xigo smirked as he looked over the head-mechanic.

"Because they didn't have to fight a Gundam piloted by an ace-coordinator" the young man said. Logan spat.

"Oh gimme a break! That would've been me fighting that thing if you hadn't gotten a head-start to him, and I wouldn't had even been _touched_" Dile interjected. Xigo glanced over at him now.

"Wouldn't have mattered, I heard the Commander over the radio tell you to head down to the docks".

"She wouldn't have done that if I was blazing straight over to a Gundam that was tearing the city apart!" Logan defended. Xigo rolled his eyes.

"Yeah sure, the Commander really lets a race decide the fate of an entire city" Shigora mocked. The others all laughed as Logan shrugged off the comment. By then Rodka was removing the deep-red bandana he usually wore on his head while piloting, and shook his somewhat long, crimson hair.

"Well I don't give a care about anything, lemme tell ya it's much more fun blowing apart endless little Mobile Suits than gettin' pounded by any Gundam" Redwing commented. Taro himself sighed then after hearing that.

"I swear to God, I want a pilot my age to join our base so I'm not the only one who takes a war seriously" the Major said. The others all quickly broke into a chortle.

"Ha! That's just your luck Taro!" Desial laughed. All the teens began to stop their chuckling, Xigo yawned, and sighed for a moment afterwards. Desial quickly slapped his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Tired kid?".

"Yeah, been so long that I've had a real fight, I forgot how much of a pain those things are for ya" Xigo replied. Desial grinned.

"Ha ha. Why don't ya go take a rest, I'll still stay here and make sure everything gets fixed on your Gundam" the mechanic suggested.

"Good idea, I'm gonna go get some fresh air" Shigora said, "later guys". The young man yawned again he walked away from the group, and began to head for one of the hallways that lead to one of the outside-decks of the ship. Logan then put his hands to his mouth.

"I wouldn't need to take a rest if I had fought that guy!" the young man shouted. Taro glared at him through the corner of his eye.

"Would you shut up already?" he snapped. Logan gave the Major a dirty look as Desial and Rodka laughed hysterically together.

* * *

The Order still moved upon the soft blue waves of the Pacific, flying on towards the shores of Oregon. The fresh sea-air cooled Xigo was he leaned on the railing of the deck, gazing out into the horizon. A gentle breeze blew by, touching upon the young man's face and swaying his deep sepia hair to the side as it passed by. He was still feeling the effects from his battle with the Demolition, his entire body fatigued from the stress put on it in the heat of battle. And with the challenge he got from the talented Ragoss, Xigo had to exert himself even more in the cockpit.

The teen sighed, a somewhat depressed look in his eyes. He brought his plastic bottle held in his hand to his lips, and drank of the refreshing water in it, as he noticed someone behind him, and who it was at that.

Jina walked over to him, and joined him on the railing as she smiled at Xigo.

"Mind if I stay here?" she asked. He shook his head.

"No" he weakly replied. Jina's face flashed with concern.

"You okay? You look down" the girl said, "I've noticed it from you before." Xigo seemed to give no concern himself.

"I'm just tired from the fight, it's been too long since I've been in one of that proportion" Shigora explained. Jina now appeared to be a little 'harsher'.

"I know what tired eyes look like, and yours are not them" the young Crestal spoke. Xigo looked back at her through the corner of his eye, almost surprised by what she said, though not showing any expression of shock.

"Believe me, it's nothing" he said. The comment apparently saddened Jina, and she placed her hands over his free one.

"Please tell me Xigo, you can trust me for anything, I promise I won't tell anyone else" she reassured. The young man glanced down at her hands over his, and then looked at her face for a moment, before finally sighing.

"Well, it's about Balador's little commercial the other day, and what he said specifically…" Xigo began. Jina was a bit surprised.

"Oh Xigo, don't be afraid to say that, we're all a little shooken up from that, I'm sure every single person on this Earth is" she said. For a few seconds, the boy was silent, until the finally began to speak again.

"That's not what I meant…". Jina's eyes widened.

"Well…what is it then?" she asked. Shigora took another pause, and gazed back out to the horizon.

"It's when he said the thing about my friend back at my school joining them…I don't want to believe it…but it's true…" Xigo began to explain, and quickly gained Jina's attention, and sympathy, "I talked to him personally on a private connection in our Mobile Suits, I guess he was on some other mission further away from the battle, and he's joined Giyre." Jina's eyes now widened again, and Xigo continued. "When I used to the school, I wasn't exactly the most-popular student. I was one of the best, but almost every single pilot there was jealous of me, and with that I was hated pretty well. My teachers were always good to me, but there was only one of my classmates that actually liked me, and who I could call my friend. He was an amazing pilot, on the same level as me. We were the best students there, and he was the only guy to ever give me a challenge in the test-duels. Hell, I was the only one to give _him_ a challenge. We always tried to see who the better of us was, but every fight we had was cut-short, and neither of us ever actually won. The one time we had a duel, we nearly destroyed each other, and our Gundams as well. We ended up putting each other in the infirmary for a week, and after that the teachers banned us from having battling each other again."

"But we always got along, and he always treated me like a brother, and I always tried to do the same for him. And then, about a week before I was first sent to the Alaska Base as the exchange pilot-thing, he was sent to Giyre, as part of the same thing. When I got back, he still hadn't returned, and it turned out that he stayed for another four months, while I was still at the school. He eventually came back, but he talked a lot about how great it was, and what an awesome trip it had been for him, though I didn't pick up on it much. And I guess now, according to Balador, he was joining them and getting used to it all that time, and probably helping them out with their attacks on ZAFT. Now, as he even said when we talked, if we meet on the battlefield, we'll have to fight each other…as the other is our enemy now…" Xigo finished, and looked down at the watery waves as Jina still took in all of what she heard, the terrible story affecting her just as it seemed to affect Shigora.

"I'm so sorry Xigo…" she replied, looking away just as he was. But then she tightened her grasp on his hand, and got his attention by it, as she turned back to him. "But just remember, Logan, Iryn, Rodka and everyone else will never betray you, we all care about you deeply, like you're one of our own, and we'll make sure that we help you and be there for you in any way necessary" Jina explained, beginning to get tears, "especially me…".

Xigo gazed into the young girl's beautiful blue eyes, forcing back his own tears himself as he now moved his hand, and held Jina's just as she held his. And then, a smile formed on the young man's once grim, gloomy face.

"Thank you Jina…I truly appreciate that…" he spoke. The girl now smiled herself, her heart pleased that the friend she loved was soothed by her words. While Logan and Rodka were just as good companions to her, Xigo filled a part of her that the other two didn't. And even after knowing him for no more than a month and a half, the young man felt like someone she had known for the rest of her life.

Jina moved closer to Shigora, and leaned against his side, resting her head on his shoulder. Xigo smiled at her still, and looked back out to the horizon.

* * *

Within a large room of the Atlantic Federation Headquarters were four tables laid out, all connected together to form one giant square. Crewman of the Order took up more than a full side of the entire shape, with the Gundam pilots, some of the head technicians, including Jina and Iryn, also Gartol and Shirta, and their heads of the ship; Captain Arelie and Commander Cerrical. To the other sides were the crew from some of the other Top Bases for the Earth Alliance, and taking up another entire side were the attendants from the Headquarters, including General Toros and Administrator Jorno.

A calm, quiet man of nearly fifty-years of age, Jorno had been at the head of the Atlantic Federation for nearly twenty-years, watching over all it did and keeping the nation intact. He was the second in the line of Administrators that had a clean ruling, unlike many of the corrupt politicians and military leaders back during the war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. His power was shown by a grand outfit that he wore; a silver overcoat with golden shoulder pads, and a pair of rich navy-blue pants. It fit well with his mid-length coffee hair and mustache, as well as his deeply tanned skin. He was the perfect image for the perfect ruler.

"As it appears, Giyre is now focusing much of its attacks on America here, and some parts of Canada. So while the Eurasian Federation is also dealing with its own attacks, I've managed to get through to them and for now make an alliance between us for this war, so they're currently preparing several fleets to send over here to give us aid. And whenever they are in serious danger, we will return the favor and give them reinforcements" the Administrator explained as he sat in his chair in the middle of the table where his Council joined him on the sides.

"Are you sure that is a good idea Administrator? Can we suddenly trust them just like that?" Captain Arelie questioned. He shrugged.

"I'm sure they feel the same way, and they also must feel the same in that Earth is in a very serious predicament, this is just as bad as ZAFT's attacks from many decades ago, we must work together if we wish to protect Earth, and then fight them off into space" Jorno said.

"Yeah, and it's especially similar in the fact that they only used ZAFT Mobile Suits during that attack on San Francisco, even the Demolition Gundam was stolen from ZAFT containment" Cerrical added. Toros nodded.

"Indeed, after all Giyre controls an incredible part of the ZAFT military now. One must admit that it's smart of them use up their machines and keep their own safe and waiting for an attack where they can possibly slaughter our troops. Not to forget though that ZAFT's Mobile Suits are still powerful" the General stated.

"Though of course, we've now been developing machines able to compete with them. Our aerial crafts and ships have become far more advance, and now we've been working harder to produce more of the M1 Astrays, as they seem to be our most-well rounded Mobile Suits, likewise with the Strike Rogues, they've been shown now to fight excellently in tandem" Administrator Jorno explained.

"Yes, and lucky for us, Giyre's forces actually contain an amazing amount of Natural pilots, so we won't all be at the disadvantage of fighting simply Coordinators" Toros said.

"But, that still leaves of half of them to _be_ Coordinators, correct?" Major Taro asked. Toros grimly nodded.

"Yes, unfortunately, and they're all skilled pilots too. From what we've learned, a little more than a half of their Coordinator troops have been recruited from ZAFT, ones who joined them while many of the bases and military stations were captured" the General added. A barrage of shocked expressions looked over to Toros.

"You mean they have that much of ZAFT on their side now?" Commander Cerrical exclaimed.

"Aye, it does make some sense too when you think about it. After all, the ZAFT soldiers are the ones who know best how to pilot the ZAFT Mobile Suits, so they're even deadlier than just Giyre commanding them" the General went on.

"According to what we know, most of them joined to just attack Earth again, to wipe out all Naturals, just like in the first war." Jorno appended. Arelie sighed.

"So, we're back to the genetics conflicts, that's just great" the young woman groaned. Taro gave a nod of agreement as he leaned back in his chair.

"Yeah, now it's not like we're just fighting Giyre, we're fighting them and a good piece of ZAFT at the same time" Major Lanawor sighed himself.

"Very true, and right now we've only recorded that no more than eight ZAFT bases were able to escape Giyre capture, and they're no where near ready to join up with us just yet and strike back themselves" the Administrator explicated. Cerrical's heart began to sink as she looked back over at Toros.

"General, do we have the necessary military force to stop them?" she asked. He nodded.

"Well yes it's indeed true that we have enough man-power to compete well-enough, but our actual weaponry is only a maybe at the moment" the high-military official began, "our Strike Rogues, M1 Astrays and even the Strike Daggers and Rollers are fine machines, and have been proven to be successful in combat, but not in even-numbers against the things Giyre has sent down. We've been in war for no more than three days, but we've already had two big losses. We had a few regiments down on the west-coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, but at the shore and on the water we were soundly defeated. They had unbelievably powerful war-ships, and these spider-like Mobile Armors called 'Agis' took out terrible amounts of our troops. Then up in Saskatchewan they attacked with ZAFT's Cgues and Guaizs. To say the least, they mauled us. The Cgues took out all of our air forces, including Skygraspers, and then the Guaizs tore through our Mobile Suits and other land defenses." After hearing all of what the General had said, Logan began to grow a goaded as he contained himself in his chair.

"Then what are we supposed to do? If our machines right now aren't enough to handle this, how do you expect to fight back? Not even our four Gundams can carry the entire Earth forces" the young Dile strongly stated as he motioned at Taro, Rodka and Xigo sitting around him. To the surprise of almost all of the people attending the meeting, the Administrator gave Logan a smirk back.

"It's easy. You see, we have a certain high-power politician that's in charge of several Mobile Suit production factories, and since the first day when Balador declared war on Earth, he's put back into action his plans to enhance the Strike Daggers, Rollers, and other machines, and mass-produce them" Jorno replied, "and as you may be thinking, it's of course none other than Mister Treston Rolander". This time he got a more pleased response from the people in the room.

"That's great! If he's developing those machines, we'll easily be able to fight off all the powerful forces like the Guaizs, and even whatever Giyre uses" Commander Cerrical said.

As if it were timed, the moment Saruma finished her statement, one of the double-doors to the hall opened, and two Earth Alliance officials walked in. One was a mid-aged man, clad by a fine crimson and gold military coat, and with short, but stunning white hair. The other, a young woman apparently only a few years older than Xigo and the others, was a beautiful girl with golden-brown hair in a ponytail, and dressed by the Earth Alliance's female uniform, but hers with a gorgeous teal color. And the very moment these two entered, every pair of eyes was on them.

"Thank you for the kind words Commander" the man, Treston Rolander said as he looked towards Cerrical, "I promise you those Mobile Suits will have excellent success in battle." Xigo's eyes had widened with amazement.

"Holy crap, it's him!" he whispered, keeping his voice low.

"You know him?" Logan asked, smirking at the arrival of the Rolanders.

"Actually both of 'em" Xigo answered, "they visited my school a lot, and he did a lot of performances with Mobile Suits for all the students. He's amazing." Logan nodded.

"Indeed he is".

"I'm very glad you were able to show up Mister Treston, as well as you Miss Jessa" the Administrator greeted with a smile at Treston's daughter. She smiled.

"Thank you Sir, I'm pleased to be here" she replied with a bow of respect.

"Well I can tell ya we're all pleased to see the both of ya!" General Toros added with a big smile, "at least now we can get an idea of what those Mobile Suits you're creating are like!". Treston smirked at the General's excitement.

"You'll be very happy to see how they're doing. I have several videos of test-runs with them, and all the blue-prints and documents on them that you'll need. I've especially designed them so that all their weaponry and operating-systems are superior to almost all of what ZAFT has in their army" Mr. Rolander explained. Taro, still resting back in his chair, raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Superior to even things like the Cgues and Guaizs?" he asked. Treston glanced at the Major, apparently pondering the question for a moment.

"Yeah, pretty close enough" he answered. Administrator Jorno stood up from his chair, gathering the attention of all in the room.

"Then we'll have that message relayed to the rest of our bases and our armies. We'll make it known on our planet, and in space, that the Earth will not back down, and that'll continue this war until we've wiped Giyre off the face of the universe" the man strongly declared.

And everyone agreed.

* * *

A darker room was illuminated by a large green-screen on the front wall inside the Giyre Headquarters. Sitting casually on a few seats, standing, or leaning on the free walls were several Giyre Pilots and Officers, all keeping their attention to the front of them, where Balador stood explaining their next assignment as he made things clearer with the imagery-help from the monitor, which now displayed a grid-map of what seemed to be the Mountain-Zone of America.

"You'll all be sent down in your ships onto Nevada, where we've now taken control of an Earth Alliance Base and using it as our own. From there, when all of the troops are ready, you'll hop onto another regiment of crafts, where you'll by taken to the East Side of Utah. You'll be deployed in that area, and from there the Roc will begin launching to join the force, as you all travel with it into the mountains" Balador spoke.

"Sir, will the Roc be launched when we're traveling to Utah from Nevada?" Sergeant Worlat asked aloud. Varo shook his head.

"Not quite. Since it's being secretly contained on the Queen Charlotte Islands in South West Canada, it'll need a couple hours to catch up to your relative position, and then follow over your platoon and into Utah and Colorado" Balador clarified. Sakara raised his hand, and waited for Balador to recognize him.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, how will the Titan and Bloodfire stay in the air? We don't have extra sets of boosters on our suits, or anywhere in the base" the teen asked. Uusiko grinned as the other pilot finished the question.

"I believe you and me will be able to stay onto the new Flight-Carriers we just finished developing a while ago" he answered. Sakara appeared intrigued by the statement.

"Oh damn, you mean those Lavos?" he asked, grinning himself. Balador nodded.

"Indeed Sakara, that is the plan for the two of you" he added. Uuskio snickered.

"All those Earth Alliance troops are going down now" he said.

"I bet I take down more than you" Sakara mocked. Nitras gave him a light hit on the arm as he whispered through Balador's ongoing explanations.

"Both of you shut up before he gets pissed at us" the young man scolded, "besides, you both now I'll destroy the most." Uusiko and Sakara chuckled as Nitras smirked now.

"Now then, remember that the Earth Alliance doesn't have any specifically Air-Combat Mobile Suits. They'll most surely send up a few M1 Astrays, but I think the majority of their forces will be Skygraspers, other aircrafts, and especially the Moebius Zeroes, which as we've seen are dangerous enemies to us now" Balador continued. One of the soldiers in the room gritted his teeth as he clenched his fist.

"Those things killed Colonel Fabnal at San Francisco, I'm gonna make 'em pay" he muttered. Varo appeared amused by his speaking.

"Well for those of you not piloting the other Air-Ships or Gundams, I suggest when taking those things on to stay in pairs or even better, groups of three. Even with your Blackhawks you'll never be able to go up against them one-on-one" he explained as the screen behind him switched to data-images of jet-black Mobile Suits, those being the air combat-orientated Blackhawks. Sergeant Worlat then took his opportunity to speak before Balador went on.

"Maybe you should explain to them the main purpose of the Roc" he suggested. Balador glanced back at him with a smirk and a nod.

"Good idea". "As you all may know, the Roc is Giyre's most powerful Air-Craft, and easily our largest. Its regular armament and defense-system makes it a force to be reckoned with on its own, but our main matter with it is the fact that it can contain ten Hudo-Class Warheads in under-wing hardpoints" Balador said. The group of pilots attending the meeting appeared surprised by the mentioning of the war-heads.

"Holy cow sir, are you sure you want to use things _that _powerful?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Yeah, and I mean, we don't have a lot of those things, I actually think that's three-fourth's of our entire armament for them" Uusiko added.

"Ahh, but you see, it is necessary that we use that many" Balador began, and then had the monitor behind him change to an image of the mountains again, but this one a view of them from the sides, from base to peak. "You see, the Roc will not drop the bombs anywhere near the Earth-Alliance Headquarters there, it won't even fly within a mile of the base. The main idea is that the warheads, as we've calculated, will create such a powerful explosion, and with such force, that they'll wreck a quarter mile of mountains alone, and then shockwaves of them will stretch for another five to six miles, shaking the mountains and most surely causing a chain-reaction of them toppling, the Earth-Alliance Base with them…". The entire room was now with awed-inspired expressions.

"Genius! That's gotta be the greatest idea I've heard!" a pilot exclaimed.

"Yeah, and the coolest one too! I hope I can watch that thing somehow!" Sakara appended with a massive grin. Uusiko leaned over to Nitras.

"Man, isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever heard man?" he asked, still looking at Balador. And luckily for Nitras, he didn't see his gloomy look.

"Yeah, it is…" Nitras quietly answered. Balador still stood smirking, waiting and allowing for the small crowd to quiet down so he could continue.

"Alright, you all know your role in this mission, and the main idea of it. You'll be sent down to Earth in approximately five hours. I want you all to check out your Mobile Suits and make sure all it okay with them, and after that you can whatever you want until your departure" he explained. With that screen behind him shut off, leaving the room much darker for a few moments before the lights came on. "This is meeting is finished, you're all dismissed." Quickly the pilots and soldiers all began to crowd to the door, leaving one by one and heading to the hangar where their machine was docked, most of them talking amongst each other, mainly about how amazed they were by the explanations Balador had just given them.

The only one not with a look of glee on his face was Nitras.


	6. Phase 5 Crying Skies

**_Phase 5- Crying Skies_**

Another day of war, bloodshed, havoc, and death passed by across Earth, with dozens of battles taking place through the period of twenty-four hours. In some they drove off the Giyre forces or completely wiped them out, yet in others they were massacred, entire regiments of their military forces destroyed. Towns were ravaged, the once gorgeous country-sides were marred by the horrors of the fighting, the nature wrecked by the deadly weapons from both armies. It had been recorded that Giyre deployed even more troops from base, and set up bases on their landing, strengthening their grip of power of the Earth, while the people of the blue and green planet stayed firm in their cause to protect their homeland.

But it would remain to be just another day in the war.

Xigo opened up his locker, and threw in his red jacket with the rest of his items, both personal and military-associated. From the one side of it he took out a bottle filled with a deep blue beverage, a type of sports-drink. Slamming the door shut then, he leaned back against the lockers, taking a large gulp as well. With a big swallow, the young man sighed, leaning his head back and resting his eyes.

As she walked down the hallway, Jessa Rolander glanced into the room she passed by, and for a moment still kept walking before she stopped, noticing who was inside. She stepped into the doorway, a humored smile on her face.

"I've been wondering where you've been for the last day" she said. Keeping his usual calm attitude, Xigo only opened one for a moment to get a look at her, and see who it was.

"I've had a lot of work to do lately, pretty much all the procedures for getting into the military" he responded, then standing up from the lockers.

"So you've officially enlisted?" Jessa asked. Xigo shrugged, appearing a little disheartened.

"Damn right, got no where else to go really…". The young woman knew exactly what troubled him.

"I'm really sorry about what happened to your school" she explained. Xigo finished another sip of his drink.

"It's fine, I've started to get over it already" he said.

"Then…do you mind me asking how've you been?" Jessa asked, trying to smile. Xigo couldn't resist revealing one himself.

"I've been waiting for you to ask that honestly". Jessa chuckled as he smirked at her response to the remark. "But yeah, I've been fine. I'm really happy to be back here, I was excited to come and see everyone, especially the Alaska Base, even if I'm gonna probably be here now more than anything. But it's okay, I honestly love it here." Jessa smiled.

"Yeah, me too. That's why I try to help out wherever I can, and with following my dad around everywhere I actually get to work with a lot of things" the girl spoke.

"So you're in the military now too, huh?" Xigo asked. She nodded.

"I decided to start doing more when I was little younger than you, I only did a couple things with computers, but then as few years passed and I learned more, I started helping with Navigating Teams on the warships, like Jina and Iryn do in the bridge. Now since I was about sixteen, I've been able to start piloting some of the air-crafts" Jessa clarified. She quickly had Xigo's entire attention.

"Moebiuses and such?" he inquired.

"Yep, I decided to try it out after watching you at your school, it looked like fun, and I'm actually getting pretty good. Though, of course nothing to what you've been doing…" she began to say, and then started to giggle as Shigora smirked.

"You got it, I love that Gundam. Most important thing in my entire life" Xigo remarked. Jessa began to laugh now.

"You jerk!" she exclaimed. Xigo burst out laughing himself.

"Oh don't worry I still love all of you guys" he spat. Jessa was laughing even more now, putting her hand against the lockers and continuing her guffaw with Xigo still in it just from her amusement.

By now, he felt even happier being back on Earth.

* * *

"A full house!" Rodka exclaimed, slamming down his five cards onto the table. Taro and Logan both sighed at the sight of the three queens and two tens.

"Ugh, beats me" the Major groaned, throwing his quintet away.

"Same" Logan added. Gartol, on the other hand, grinned as he tried to contain a chuckle.

"Four of a kind!" the head-technician said, showing off a fabulous quartet of kings and one ace. Rodka's face bent.

"What the hell? Bullshit!" the young man shouted. Taro and Logan both laughed in their seats as Gartol gathered up all the chips from the pot. "Who loses with a full-house?".

"Hate to break it to ya…but you did!" Gartol teased, grinning wider as he stacked the many chips he just won. Rodka gave off a growling-like sound, leaned back in his chair.

"Just deal again" he muttered.

"Ahh shut it already Rodka, least you've won more than two hands" Logan said before drinking a large slug of his soda.

"Yeah man, you and me have really been the only ones gettin' stuff" Gartol added.

"Well, that's just 'cause you got a horseshoe up your ass Gartol" Taro commented, "but that's beside the point. If we were playing Hold 'Em it'd be different."

"Nah, Xigo would just dominate like he always does" Logan sighed, recalling some humiliating memories.

"So where's he been all day?" Rodka asked, taking his cards that Gartol dealt him.

"Well, Shirta told me he was with the Rolanders, I've been in here all day working on your Gundams" the man explained.

"I thought Desial and his team was taking care of that?" Taro said, glancing up at Gartol.

"He was. They're only mechanics, so they fix up any damage and stuff. I'm the Head Technician, so I gotta make sure other things like ammo and energy repletion is done. And that's pretty much what I was working on today. I had your grenade launcher and machine gun re-loaded Rodka, and Logan I got more rockets stashed into your battery, and your beam-rifle's almost done charging".

"Wow…thanks man" Logan said, surprised by the incredible work Gartol had completed all-day.

"Yeah really, that's a big help for me, I couldn't do all of that if I wanted to" Rodka added, throwing in a few chips to play his cards. Gartol smirked.

"Anytime guys, that's what I'm here for. If ya ever need anything else just ask, I'm sure I could find time to give ya a hand." he replied, putting in the same amount.

"Well I can tell for ya for certain I appreciate that, but right now I need a different kind of 'hand'" Logan groaned, tossing his cards away. After Taro bet as well, Rodka showed his cards.

"Two pair". The Major quickly threw his hand away.

"Beats me again…". Gartol was grinning once more.

"Three of a kind" he said, putting his cards down and sweeping in the chips. Rodka's face twisted.

"Unbelievable!".

* * *

Within the main control center for the Atlantic Federation Headquarters, several computer technicians, communicators and cartographers sat within the room that was only lighted by whatever screens and monitors were active. Each worker for the paramount military base was seated before their control panel or separate computer, continuing the work they had to do just as they did for every other day.

Jina and Iryn were next to each other, aggravated and growing impatient as they both attempted several times to type in the correct password to log into the Headquarter's Mapping System, so they could both begin putting new locations onto the maps.

"Jeez! That's the tenth one I've tried so far!" Iryn shouted, ignoring the other workers in the room.

"Well I just went with my thirteen I think, and I still got nothing" Jina added with a sigh. Iryn leaned back in her chair.

"Come on! This is ridiculous!" she growled, how are we supposed to know the password for this thing if we weren't even told it?". Jina sighed again, thinking even more negatively.

"And now we'll probably get in trouble for not finishing our work…" the girl said.

From behind them, the other head-technician, Shirta, laughed as she walked down a short flight of stairs to get to where the girls were sitting.

"Calm down you two, I know what it is for the program you gotta use" the young woman stated. In an instant they spun around in their chairs, eyes beaming.

"You do?" they asked. Shirta nodded.

"Yep, it's 'Seraphim'" she whispered. Jina and Iryn turned back to their keyboards, and typed in the given password. With a push of the 'enter' key, they finally received a screen other than 'Access Denied', this one being the opening page for a program called Atlantic Cartography.

"Hey it worked!" Jina exclaimed.

"How did you know what it was?" Iryn asked, looking back up at Shirta.

"Administrator Jorno told me it before I went to work with installing this program and a few others onto the Order. I've been quite busy all day with these new things, and I still gotta come in later and do some tinkering in here with a bunch of the systems" the young woman explained.

"Are you going to be mostly in here now?" Jina added.

"So it seems, there's not much left to do with the Order, and I can't exactly do anything else with the Llongshot. Even Commander Cerrical agreed that I'd be best suited in here" Shirta clarified, then thinking of something, "say, you girls stationed in here too?". They both nodded.

"Yeah. At first they wanted us to do what we're doing now on some of the battleships, but then they just sent us here instead" Iryn said. Jina then smiled.

"So I guess we'll all be working together" the young girl commented. Shirta smiled back.

"Looks like it".

On their screens then appeared the actual opening page for the program Atlantic Cartography 5.5. The name quickly made the girls feel uneasy.

"Hey Jina…this isn't what we've always used at Alaska, or even on the Order…".

"Yeah you're right, we've always just have Five-Point O…" Crestal said. Shirta leaned onto the one panel, getting a good look at their screens.

"Yep, this is the one I worked with before. We only use Five-Point O because Alaska and the Order don't need such advanced mapping, but because this is the Headquarters for the entire Atlantic Federation, they need stuff like this for mapping all of the Hemisphere" she explained. Jina and Iryn were slightly wide-eyed by the explication.

"Umm, Shirta…do you know how to work this…?" Jina asked.

"Well, what are you working on?" .

"Plotting locations for battles, new bases and possible future locations for them both" Crestal answered. Shirta smiled.

"Sure, no problem" the young woman replied, grabbing a chair and pulling it to herself in between the teens. Iryn gave a sigh of a relief.

"Wow, you're a lifesaver Shirta".

* * *

High the sky, beyond the limits of human-sight, the great Giyre air-assault team flew on ahead, soaring within the white clouds and against the blue firmament. Large amounts of the jet-black Mobile Suits called Blackhawks and large air-crafts named Zephlers crowded together in one massive group, heading on towards the Atlantic Federation's Headquarters, and joined by four Gundams.

Alongside Nitras in the Double Edge, Uusiko sat in the cockpit of the Bloodfire Gundam, a machine with the frightening colors of blood red and black. Beside him was Sakara in the Titan Gundam, one with massive crimson shoulder pads, and a body mainly of goldenrod and navy tones. Then leading them, as well as the entire squadron was the Jet Gundam, piloted by the ace-veteran Sergeant Worlat. The machine was of fine colors, likely jet-black, but also a light grey to blend in with the clouds and sky. It was truly the perfect Gundam for the incredible officer.

Inside his cockpit, Worlat sat holding his control sticks as he had the Jet move ahead at a steady pace, keeping it ahead of the rest of the troops, though not by a great amount. Like the rest of the pilots, the Sergeant was in a black-leather jacket, which was the common attire while instead the military machines, much like Earth's troops. And even more like many of the Earth's soldiers, he felt he was too far skilled of a pilot to wear the full suit, which was actually hard to argue.

"Ahh, finally. Here it is boys, here she comes" he said on his radio, noticing a huge black mass coming into the center of the squadron.

"Oh man! Is that the Roc?" Sakara asked, a wide grin on his face.

"Nothin' else. Everyone on the left side of the group move out of the way and let it get set in the middle of us" the Sergeant ordered. As the enormous craft began to steer into the center of them all, the Blackhawks and Zephlers near it moved from their positions, allowing for it to enter the area it needed to fly in.

"Damn, that's one hell of a jet there" Uusiko began, his eyes scanning the massive bomber, "the thing looks like it could take out the Headquarters without all those warheads." Worlat was amused by the comment.

"Thing probably can if we got close enough. Has more machine guns can we count and missile-launchers galore" he replied.

"Well then we can't let something of this beauty get shot down now" Uusiko added.

"Darn right, we gotta make sure this thing stays in the air long enough to drop the bombs at all costs" Nitras said, finally speaking during the flight.

"Hey kid, what's the distance for us from the place now?" Worlat asked. Nitras quickly pressed a button that gave him a screen with a map of the area on his main monitor.

"A little over ten miles from the dropping-point, approximately fifteen and a half from the Headquarters" the young Dolorga answered. Worlat smirked.

"Alright then, we're makin' good time. Nothing to worry about yet guys, let's just keep moving at the pace we are and get as far as possible before they notice us and send out their troops" he explained.

* * *

The Sound System went on in the Headquarters, and the person at the radio of it began announcing the current report-

"All personal to Battle Stations! Repeat, all personal to Battle Stations!"

The siren was blaring, getting the attention of every person inside the massive base, and signifying the seriousness of the situation. From wherever they were, all technicians, mechanics and pilots dashed to the where they had been placed for a battle, many to the Hangar were even more machines were docked than at the New Alaska Base.

Xigo, Logan, Rodka, Taro and even Treston all bolted into the Communications Center, where nearly every single seat was occupied by some kind of computer operator. Above the floor where they all were, the Administrator stood with General Toros, Commander Cerrical and Captain Arelie as they all stared up at the huge monitor was illuminated greatly.

"Hey what the hell's going on with this battle stations stuff?" Taro asked, the moment they got to the quartet of high officials.

"Look up on the screen" Cerrical answered, not moving to look at him whatsoever. The Major did, along with the other four, and like the others was shocked to see the enormous squadron of Giyre forces flying within the clouds. Even worse for them was to catch sight of the gigantic Roc in the center of it all.

"Good God, what is that thing?" Logan exclaimed.

"Looks like a bomber of some-type, just one specifically to carry warheads and let 'em unload…" Treston answered.

"And they're coming here to drop 'em on us…" Arelie finished. The group was silent for a moment as everyone still took in the disbelief from the terrifying thoughts of what was coming their way.

"Well can we stop it?" Rodka asked. Xigo nodded firmly.

"Of course, it's a pain, but if we got our Gundams close enough to it, blowing it apart shouldn't be hard. But usually things like that have a lot of defense weapons, and actually getting close to them can be a bit dangerous" Shigora explained.

"Well right now you five our are biggest chances of saving this place. We're getting ready to send out some Moebius Zeroes and M-One Astrays, so you guys get to the Hangars as quick as you can, get into your suits and fly out with your Gundams" General Torso declared, finally turning away from the screen.

"Yes sir!" they all replied with a salute, and just as they came, dashed away.

"And Logan, make sure you got an Oaro to fly up there with!" Toros added.

"Got it sir!" the young Dile answered from down the hall. A few moments later then, the Administrator looked away from the monitor, glancing at the General.

"Mister Toros, do you think it'd be a good time to use those missile batteries now?" he asked.

"I'd think so, they're only a few miles from us now, and those things travel fast" he responded.

"Yeah, and they won't even be able to pick them up on their radars until they're about a mile from them" Cerrical added.

"Oh, and why's that?" Jorno inquired.

"Special cloaking spray that's on the missiles themselves. Its strong stuff, makes 'em undetectable for most of their flight, but then after going for so long it kinda wears off from the velocity" Captain Arelie explained. Toros then glanced at the Administrator now.

"So, do I have your permission to launch them?". He nodded.

"Of course".

"Missile Batteries One through Twenty- Fire!".

Across the entire area of the Atlantic Federation Headquarters, all holders for these stealth missiles were raised up from their underground hiding compartments. The batteries aimed up to the sky, locking onto the squadron of Giyre forces, and letting the doors to the missile barrels open. And one by one, every second, they unleashed their armament.

As they blazed through the skies over the Rockies, they quickly made their way closer and closer to the oncoming enemies, which, just as Commander Cerrical suggested, didn't pick them up on their radars until they were barely a mile from meeting with them.

"Incoming missiles guys! Looks like around two-hundred or so!" Nitras exclaimed on his radio.

"It's the first assault only boys, so get yourselves ready for more hell after this! Shoot 'em down and protect the Roc!" Worlat shouted to all. All the Blackhawks raised their Machine Guns, and in an instant opened fire at the wave of rockets. Others unleashed their own missiles from bazookas, while the Zephlers added with their own weaponry. Dozens began to be shot down, but just as many made it past the attack from the Giyre troops, either blowing apart the Blackhawks and Zephlers, or moving in at the Roc.

Though just as Worlat had explained before, the enormous air-craft retaliated with its incredible amount of Anti-Air Guns, firing off at the incoming missiles in swarms of bullets. One by one the rockets were struck and blown apart, setting off others with their explosions, and the rest that still tried to make it in to the Roc were taken out by the many machine guns stored on the craft.

"Report seems that missiles took down five Blackhawk Mobile Suits, and three Zephler Aircrafts. No hits reported on the big one" a man reported from his radio. Jorno and the others all gasped, frozen for a moment by the news.

"What? None hit it?" Toros shouted.

"That's what I got sir" the man answered. The General sighed, trying to refrain from gritting his teeth.

"God, how are we gonna stop them…?" he whispered.

"We put our faith in the Gundams" the Administrator strongly replied.

* * *

The sirens went off in the hangar as the launch-pads were prepared to send the mighty Gundams out into the sky, and onto their path for battle in the clouds. Mechanics and technicians were running all about, either out of the way of where the Gundams would soar out, or to another place to continue their work in this very severe time.

"Let's do this! Aile Strike launching!" Taro shouted from his cockpit, and then was released from the docking bay to the outside.

"Right behind ya man!" Rodka yelled, and then left with the Blaze. Meanwhile Logan was still getting suited up, nearly ready to take off.

"Hey there" Gartol greeted as a screen of him appeared on the cockpit's monitor. "Your Oaro's all ready to go when you are. I had the beam cannons on it charged up too". Logan smiled as he strapped in his last seat-buckle.

"Thanks man, I appreciate that" he replied.

"You be careful out there!" Gartol added, smirking. Logan seemed confident in himself.

"Trust me man, so long as the Thunder stays in tact, you got nothing to worry about with me" the young man answered. And with another second, his flight-pad was on, and his bulky machine soared out of the hangar with it. As he left, in the other hangar, Xigo was patiently awaiting for his signal to go. The young man had calm eyes as he was seated within his cockpit, and an easy expression to go with it. He knew there was a chance that he'd meet with Nitras within the skies, and that he may have to fight against him. Even more, he knew that if the huge aircraft heading for the base wasn't stopped, the entire place and all people in it would be wiped off the face of the Earth.

But he wouldn't let that burden him.

"Alright kid, you're clear to launch" Desial said over the radio, "I got your entire suit repaired, and I think with the stuff we sprayed on the chest that it's even stronger than before." Xigo felt cheerful by hearing the mechanic talk to him.

"Thanks a ton again Desial, you gotta show me that thing when I get back". On the other end of the line, the man smirked.

"Heh, well make sure you kick some ass out there and make sure you get back alive" Desial replied. Xigo tightened his grip on his control sticks.

"You betcha!". With that he leaned back into his seat, adjusting to the thrust as the Valor was sent flying on the rails, and launched into the air. The boosters on the back on the Gundam sent it soaring behind the others, and in a moment another beautiful Gundam was flying alongside it. It was a machine nearly the same build of the Valor, and with an array of fine timberwolf and charcoal colors about its thick body. Xigo swiftly noticed it, and had to chuckle slightly from so.

"Ha, good to see you've still got the Emperor Mister Treston" Shigora commented. Rolander smiled from the remark.

"Yep, I'll be using this guy until it crumbles apart. This thing can still pack one helluva wallop" Treston answered back.

"Heh, I don't doubt that. If it's as powerful as it was the last time you performed with it at my school then that thing's gonna be the nastiest weapon in this war for us" Xigo said. Treston wasn't even able to hold back a genuine laugh.

"Well you all have nothing to worry about then. With a couple of the new upgrades it has, it's the best Gundam we've got".

"I can't wait to see it in action now. You ready to unload on these jackasses?".

"Ready? Heh, I've been dying to do this!".

And with that the Emperor Gundam set its boosters to a higher speed, moving it ahead with even more velocity, and the Valor was quick to repeat and follow behind it. They soon caught up with Taro, Logan and Rodka, and then were joined by a wave of soaring M1 Astrays, along with a squadron of the deadly Moebius Zeroes.

The Atlantic Federation Troops would fly out together as one unit.

By no more than ten minutes passing, they came to the Giyre forces, and like two waves they smashed into each other with terrible force and brutality. The Blackhawks opened fire with their machine guns and rocket launchers, taking first blood by blowing apart a pair of M1 Astrays. But the Moebius Zeroes quickly let their Gunbarrels free, and created a storm of fire that wiped out more Blackhawks, even destroying two Zephlers. The Emperor was fighting in an instant, releasing its own longsword from its back. In seconds the blade was engulfed by an orange flame, just like the Valor's sword, and with two swift strokes sliced apart a pair of Blackhawks. A small group of Moebius Zeroes were the first to make it into enemy territory, flying at the Roc and firing off their weapons. Though unfortunately for them, none of their attacks made attacks, and in no more than ten seconds they were all destroyed by rockets or machine gun fire from the massive craft.

"It's their main force guys! Defend the Roc and hold off those Gundams!" Nitras shouted. With that the Double Edge let loose its curved blades mounted on its wrists, and flew at the Valor full force. Xigo narrowed his eyes as he unsheathed his mighty blade, gleaming brightly. "You're mine Xigo!" Nitras shouted.

"Bring it on!" Shigora cried back. The two Gundams lashed out with their blades, and upon connection became caught in a struggle of power.

Meanwhile, the Jet Gundam was wielding a deadly heat-Hyup Do, the curved spear flashing in the sky as it soared past unfortunate M1 Astrays and sliced them clear in two. And with the expert skills of its pilot, the machine was now a major enemy for the Earth soldiers. Though Worlat had other ideas on his mind.

"Where is he?" he said to himself, turning the Gundam to get better glimpses of the area, "what in God's name is that…". He then grinned upon catching sight of the Aile Strike. "There he is…". In an instant he flew towards Strike Gundam, the hands on the Jet gripped tightly about the rod of the heat-spear. He began to snicker. "You're mine Taro Lanawor!". From his own cockpit, Major Taro was just able to notice the machine in time to raise up his beam sabers and block a mighty slash from the spear, but at the same time in shock of what he heard.

"What the hell? Is that you Worlat?" he yelled. On his monitor, a small, live image of the Giyre Air-Pilot appeared, showing off his grinning face.

"It is indeed me Taro, long time no see" Worlat replied.

"Wh-what are you doing here? Did you join Giyre?".

"I did. Not long after I was kicked out of the Atlantic Air-Combat Base you and I both attended. Some of the top representatives of Giyre had noticed my skill through some of our test-missions, and after learning that I left, they offered me a high-rank in their army. I won't lie, I wanted, and I still do for nothing but revenge against you all!". The Jet then pulled its spear back and performed an even more powerful swipe in a split moment, one that Taro couldn't follow and resulted in cutting through the armor on the sternum of the Aile Strike. Quickly the Major pulled back, getting space between him and Worlat.

"You're a fool! You're only helping them create mass hell and destruction across the entire galaxy!" he shouted.

"Maybe that's true, but I'll do anything to make you all in the military pay for your disrespect to me!" Worlat replied, and pressed a button on the side of his control panel. In doing so, two thin holes opened up on the shoulders of the Jet, and from them poured out three rockets each. In reply, the Aile Strike opened up its own compartments to release a twin 120mm Machine Guns, which instantly opened fire. With ease the rockets were all shot in mid-air, and blown apart to create one giant explosion.

"Aw crap, maybe that wasn't such a good idea…" Taro spluttered as his Gundam rocked. Even more, it made vision worse for him, with a cloud of smoke blocking his view of the Jet. Though it wasn't long before the black and grey machine came soaring out through the mass of it, and just missing with another slash of his spear which the Strike dodged.

"I've waited so long to especially fight you Taro! You'll be sorry for deserting me when the General had me released! You just left me like that and stuck like a dog to those fools!" Worlat said. Taro simply narrowed his eyes and swung the Aile Strike around, batting the Jet away as one of his beam sabers tore into its shoulder.

"Man you're frigged up now! I'm gonna be glad when I kill you!".

* * *

The Blaze soared all about, its chains lashing back and forth, ripping through Blackhawks one by one with blinding speed of the attacks. Then the twin extensions on his flight pack glowed red, and from the tops of them flew out a burning blast of energy. The streams tore through clouds, blasting apart more Giyre Mobile Suits in its way until they both struck one of the Zephlers, destroying it in a fiery blast.

The Thunder came roaring in, bulling through a trio of Blackhawks and cutting them down with powerful blows from its Battle Axe. After taking care of them, it aimed its Oaro cannons down at a Zephler below it, and fired off four green beams. It was all that was needed.

"Woo! These guys may be harder than the last ones, but they're still pretty easy! I wanna get a freakin' challenge for once!" Logan yelled.

"Well we may get one now, check out those two!" Rodka replied, the Blaze pointing at the oncoming Titan and Bloodfire on their Lavos. The Titan aimed the massive rocket launcher on its shoulder, firing off a quartet of massive missiles that spiraled their way to four M1 Astrays and blew them to pieces. Alongside it, the Bloodfire managed to slice clear through two Moebius Zeros, using a pair of frightening white-hot beam sabers. Logan's eyes widened for a moment.

"Holy crap! Those are some mean Gundams!". Inside their cockpits, Uusiko and Sakara both smirked, mostly from the remark the young Earth soldier had just made.

"Hey Uusiko, these guys don't seem like a bunch of pushovers either, think we'll get our hands full over this?" Sakara asked.

"We might, the both of 'em got some nasty firepower after all" Uusiko replied.

"I'll get the yellow one, I think the Titan will have fun with him".

"Then the red one's mine then!". With that the Bloodfire shot off a blast from its Flare Rifle, narrowly missing the shoulder of the Blaze and instead blowing apart another Moebius Zero.

"Let's take these two down Logan!" Rodka yelled, pulling out his Napalm Grenade Launcher and reloading his machine gun.

"Way ahead of ya!" he responded as the Thunder soared at the Titan on its Oaro.

* * *

The 170mm Long Range Railgun attached to the Jet's arm was nearly burning hot from the continuous fire it unleashed upon the Aile Strike, which swiftly flew all about in the air as it avoided the bullets and tried to fire back with its pair of Beam Rifles. Though in time the tactic proved to be futile, when it was eventually caught by the Railgun and pounded with a brief spray of ammunition. Worlat grinned.

"You're finished now!" he shouted, and fired off a large green blast of energy from the Jet's Concentrated Hyper Beam Rifle. Taro growled

"Guess I gotta use this now…" he grunted to himself. The Strike then threw one of its rifles away, and instantly covered itself up with its shield. Though, the blast of energy still proved to have incredible power, knocking the entire Gundam back upon impact. Once Taro got his composure back, he straightened out the Strike and smirked. "I'm not done yet Worlat!". The beam rifle he still had in possession then fired a single blast, which moved to the Jet in a split second and blasted it in the shoulder. The Giyre Gundam was sent sprawling in the air as Worlat cried out, giving Taro the chance to attack again.

Instead of firing his beam rifle again though, the young man chose to pull out the twin beam sabers he had, and fly down at the Jet for one final strike.

"Die Worlat!" he yelled, so caught up in the moment that he didn't he even catch on when the Jet was turning back to him, and fired off another blast from its Concentrated Hyper Beam Rifle. The shot of energy struck the Aile Strike on the right hip, blowing apart its last remaining beam rifle as well as a part of the flight pack and its side. Taro grunted aloud as he tried to get it back under control from the attack, succeeding in doing so, but realizing how much damage he had truly taken. Worlat laughed contently from inside his cockpit.

"You're still as foolish as you were back then Taro, it's no wonder why I'm such a better pilot then you. The Earth military made a very crucial mistake when kicking me out, because I'm now with Giyre, and I'll be their deadliest foe. Too bad they overlooked my superiority and only got mad over their petty rules and my conduct!" he shouted, and sent the Jet flying at the Aile Strike, its Hyup Do ready for a mighty slash.

But when it performed it, Taro caught it in between his beam sabers, holding it with them at the metal rod. Worlat's eyes widened as the Major grinned for himself.

"You're saying I'm foolish when you leave the vulnerable part of your weapon out in the open like that? You've lost it Worlat" Taro mocked, and with that the Strike applied a pinch more pressure, completely severing the metal rod of the Heat Hyup Do into two with his beam sabers. The Air Combat Sergeant nearly screamed in disbelief, and then screamed for another reason when the Aile Strike attacked.

With three slashes of blinding speed, the Jet's right arm was completely cut off, the head was sliced in half, and the legs were cut from the rest of the body. The Jet began to fly backwards from the force of the one hit, the machine barely half intact.

"Noooo!" Worlat bellowed. Then just before Taro would fly out and finish the job, a Zephler flew by, catching the Jet with a grappling hook and beginning to soar away as it reeled it in.

"Hey! Get your butt back here!" Taro yelled. Two more Zephlers came by through, and slowed down as they began to unloading their armaments of machine guns and missiles. Even though he desired to fly off after Worlat, Taro now knew he couldn't end the fight today. Lifting up his shield again, he stood in place and began to block the attacks.

* * *

The Double Edge and Valor were flying back and forth to and from each other, their blades connecting with every pass and creating a near-orchestra of clashing metal. Sparks flew as their weapons smashed against one another, the two Gundams using full force in their attacks as their pilots tried with everything in their power to strike the other down.

But at the same time, the two old friends also took part in an emotional conversation, one as powerful as their combat.

"Xigo, I'll give you one more chance now to surrender and leave the Earth Alliance. I'll let you live and come to Giyre, we'd gladly let you into our military and recreate this world!" Nitras shouted.

"I have no intentions of joining that wicked organization! Even if you've blindly enlisted it!" Xigo replied.

"I joined them because they're working to unite all humanity across the galaxy, to end all this garbage with Zaft and the Earth, and Naturals and Coordinators".

"Bullshit! Balador proclaimed nothing but pure domination of the universe so Giyre can rule over all of us!".

"That's because in order to reach our goal for bringing all people together, we must use our military to first conquer all those who are ignorant, and from there we'll make them realize how wrong they are for the division between people. Zaft can't do that on its own, the Earth can't do that on its own, hell they can't do it together! But _we _can!".

"And you think you're doing it the moral way by unleashing mass military upon us? By completely taking over Zaft and causing complete terror throughout space?".

"This is a very serious and complicated mission Xigo, there's gonna be times where we have to do things we don't want to in order to make the galaxy a better place to live in! If we can bring unity without war then we would, but the fact is the people of the Earth and Zaft are too arrogant to even attempt something, they completely feel right with the bias towards one kind of human than the other. That entire idea of there being two different types of human is disgusting! We'll bring order to humanity!".

"You cannot achieve that be creating rivers of blood Nitras! Giyre is a militaristic nation that's grown in power and now desires galactic domination!".

"What do you know? Are you a member of Giyre? Are you experiencing what it's all about first hand? No! You only see our military, you don't know anything of our politics and society. Giyre is a nation of Coordinators and Naturals living in harmony, the perfect example of what the rest of the universe should be. I joined Giyre because I was welcomed in, I made friends here in mere days, many being Naturals, something I never thought I'd experience. You wouldn't understand being able to able to befriend someone you've grown up seeing as a different being, because you've joined Earth."

"I could give a care! I joined Earth just as you say you joined Giyre because here I was accepted for whatever the hell I was and treated like a true friend by everyone at the Alaska Base! Now as I meet more of the military and politics I find myself in the same position! They don't care if I came from a Zaft school, they trust me and care about me just as you did!".

"You don't belong there Xigo! If there's one place in the world that's worse being there for you than Zaft, it's the Earth! Those Naturals down there think all Coordinators like me are evil spawns of Satan, because I was genetically enhanced against my will! Because I wasn't 'born', I was created! All Naturals from Earth are _worthless_!". Xigo's eyes widened with fury for a moment, and the teen's body shook as he felt all anger and intensity within him augment. In doing so, the Valor flew backwards, away from the Double Edge, and fired off a pair of red Fullmetal Missiles from an opened compartment on its left arm.

"_I'm _half Natural!" he roared, as Nitras was stricken with disbelief, and was only able to block the missiles with his blades. The explosion shattered the swords, and sent his Gundam flying backwards from the force, where it eventually stopped in mid-air as he stared at the screen with a seething Xigo.

"Wh-what…?" he flatly asked, due to his state of shock. Xigo took a moment before answering, apparently preparing for his loud tone.

"You heard me! I'm half Natural! I'm not full Coordinator! There's a part of me that's just like every Natural in existence! Hell, I'm more like the ones here on Earth which you seem to hate so much, because I was _born _on this planet!". Nitras's eyes bulged as he felt his body grow cold. The young man's mind had literally been overtaken by thoughts of what Xigo had just told him. It was a truth that he never knew, and never in his wildest dreams to learn.

But before he could do much more thinking, the Valor was flying towards him, Xigo preparing his longsword for strong attack. Quickly the Double Edge released its second pair of blades, and in a moment had them attached to the sides of its wrists. Just as the Valor brought its sword down in a vertical motion, the Double Edge caught it between his blades, and struggled with the Earth Alliance's Gundam in a test of power.

"This is Treston in the Emperor! Requesting help at the big one! I can't handle this thing on my own!" Mr. Rolander then yelled as he flew all about the massive craft, avoiding fire and trying to retaliate. Xigo received the message, and still while in the grapple with the Double Edge, decided to end their duel abruptly.

"We'll finish our fight another day if it comes to it, but I hope we do not meet again" he said, and with that the Valor flew away, off to the Roc. For a moment Nitras was surprised, but the fury still in him quickly took over.

"Don't think you're getting away like that! Get back here and fight me Xigo!" he cried, sending the Double Edge in hot pursuit. Knowing he was now being followed, and not wanting to waste any more time holding him off, Xigo went to his radio.

"This is Valor! I need a few of you guys to hold off the Double Edge behind me, I've gotta go help out against the Roc!" Shigora reported. In mere seconds, four Moebius Zeroes came flying in by him, instantly opening fire upon Nitras.

"Get going kid, we'll take on this dude" one of the pilots replied. The Double Edge stopped in mid air, blocking some of the shots with his twin blades, and firing back with streams of red rockets from the black Gundam's shoulders, quickly blowing apart one fighter craft.

"Dammit Xigo…" Nitras whispered to himself.

The Roc was picking up speed, moving in closer and closer to its destination where it would release the many warheads held underneath the craft. Barely anything had even touched the jet surface of it, and whatever weapon that did proved unsuccessful in dealing much damage. Mobile Suits and Aircrafts from the Earth Alliance had fought full force to hold it off, but the majority of those that tried only received death in return.

As Treston had the Emperor flying about, evading endless missile and machine gun fire, two M1 Astrays flew overhead, firing off their beam rifles. The blasts hit the Roc, though failed to even make a dent. A few of the many drone guns quickly aimed at the Mobile Suits, and before they even passed over the aircraft they were shot down. Treston then took his opportunity.

"Take this!" he cried, halting his flight and opening up two compartments on the Emperor's shoulders. Two Six-Barrel Rocket Launcher were revealed, and quickly began to fire off, alongside the pair of Wrist-Attached Twin Beam Shooters that were aimed and let off torrents of red energy blasts. All the fire struck one area of the Roc, blowing apart a couple turrets and blasting away a fine spot of the ship.

But even while under that, it didn't even slow down, and it retaliated with blast from two of its Beam Cannons. The shots both struck the Emperor, exploding upon the fine machine and sending it lurching in the air. Treston grunted as he lasted against the rumbling inside his cockpit, and soon had it upright as he regained his control. And just then the Valor soared in, stopping right beside the Emperor.

"Hey Mister Treston!" Xigo greeted.

"Oh good some backup, even better hat it's you" Mr. Rolander said, "look Xigo, I can't get enough good shots in before I'll be blown apart. There's just too many weapons on there for me to attack back against and avoid. And even worse I doubt we'll be able to take it down with any of our weapons. It's just too well defended and large to break down."

"So…what do we do?" the teen pilot asked.

"Well, I do have something that would destroy it, but the risk of using it out in the open is far too great, the explosion would massacre everything in the area. I need something to distract most of its guns upon, but also to create enough of a hole or rip in it so I can fire this thing actually into the jet" Treston explained. Xigo smirked.

"That's all? I can handle that easy, just get that weapon ready now" he stated, and in an instant sent the Valor flying down towards the Roc, longsword firm in hand. Treston's eyes widened as he watched the Gundam soar straight into a hail of fire.

"What the hell are you doing? You could get killed!" he shouted. Xigo's eyes narrowed as he focused his sight completely on the craft.

"I'll be fine! Just get that weapon ready!" he yelled back, dodging all streams of bullets and rockets. Treston sighed angrily inside his cockpit as he flipped a switch to the side of him. From the Emperor's left shoulder then came out a large goldenrod bomb, which slid down on his arm on a rail, stopping on top of its wrist. It then aimed its arm at the Roc, and Treston held it there as he waited.

The Valor was now flying over the massive plane, blade in front of it and spinning around rapidly to create a shield against all the attacks. Innumerable bullets were deflected off the metallic weapon, rockets exploded uselessly against it, and even small energy blasts were held off as the mighty Gundam flew on. As it moved on, Xigo then spotted a thick, open-area in the middle of the Roc.

"Perfect place". Two energy blasts then came the Valor's way, exploding upon the spinning sword and slowing down the Gundam. Xigo gritted his teeth as he held it up in its flight, not allowing for it to stagger any more than it had.

He then came to the part of the craft he saw before, and turned on the energy output for his longsword, allowing for it to be engulfed by a massive blue flame. The Valor drove it into the Roc, penetrating with ease and continuing to soar ahead, bringing the blade with it as it cut a great gash in the process. Once the explosions cleared from the start of the line, Treston got perfect aim for the bomb.

"Alright!". The was then fired off from the Emperor's wrist, flying straight into the Roc through its deep wound the Valor had made with ease. Knowing the dangerous power of the explosive, he instantly sent the Emperor flying off. "Come on Xigo we gotta get outta here now!".

"Wh-what? What's going on Mister Treston?" the boy questioned, but began following behind him.

"I sent an A-Class Warhead into that thing, it'll detonate in thirty seconds" Rolander grimly answered. Shigora's eyes bulged in his state of shock.

"Holy God are you serious?" the young man screamed. Treston's eyes hardened.

"Yeah, and that's why we all gotta get the hell outta here as quick as possible!" he said, then grabbing his main microphone for his radio, and setting it to reach all other machines in the area.

"Attention! This is Treston Rolander in the Emperor; I report that I have launched an A-Class Warhead into the main craft! It will explode in thirty seconds! All pilots leave the area and get as far as you possibly can! Don't stop for _any _reason!" he cried as the Emperor and Valor soared overhead. All fighting stopped in an instant, and fear seemed to wash over the battlefield like a plague.

"Holy crap that's not good at all…" Rodka remarked from the Blaze. From within the Aile Strike, Major Taro felt his body freeze.

"Alright people we gotta get outta here, so let's go!" he said, and quickly took off with his Gundam. All Moebius Zeroes, M1 Astrays, and the Thunder and Blaze were soon to follow, all flying at full speed in one giant group in their escape. The Giyre troops all still were behind, not bothering to attack just yet as they tried to make sense of the situation.

"What the hell's going on here? Are we supposed to just believe them?" Sakara questioned.

"I'm not sure…but I don't see why they'd just be retreating like that…" Uusiko answered. Just then a message from the Roc was relayed to all Giyre machines in area as the machine blazed with a great fire from where Xigo cut it open.

"All Giyre troops retreat as well! They were not lying, a warhead is inside this craft as we speak and is ready to explode at any second! Leave at once and get clear of the blast!" a member of the crew shouted. And now even more fear was present in the skies.

"Fly as fast as you can! We gotta get away _now_!" Nitras screamed, sending the Double Edge soaring away at maximum speed. Just like the with Earth forces, all Giyre machines followed behind the black Gundam, moving as fast as their boosters would allow them. They flew in the opposite direction, but just like the Atlantic Troops were going full speed in their ultimate efforts to escape to imminent explosion.

Three…two…one…zero…

The Roc glowed with a red light for a split second, and with that a massive orb of fire overwhelmed the entire jet. Mere seconds afterward a detonation of frightening size blew it apart, and a monstrous wave of fire spread in all directions in the skies. Like a sandstorm, it blazed through the clouds at amazing speed, creating a mind-blowing sight in the sky as it moved closer and closer to the retreating military forces. Giyre and Earth machines were going past their limits as they soared ahead in their directions, trying at all costs to keep ahead of the wave and escape its fury.

And with luck, they did.

* * *

Nearly twenty minutes after the blast, the Earth Forces had stopped in mid air, lower in altitude than before and now moving at a far slower space as they neared the Headquarters on the mountains. All the Mobile Suits, aircrafts and Gundams leisurely hovered ahead, their engines nearly burnt out completely and unable to push them any faster after their out-flying of the explosion. The detonation had left a massive circle of smoke in the sky, though fitting in as all the clouds around it began to darken.

"Man, we're a bunch of lucky fools to escape that one" Taro joked, trying to ease the rather quiet and solemn mood around the pilots. His words quickly changed it.

"Yeah, but hey, it's because we're that awesome" Logan replied with a smile. All the other soldiers began to chuckle and smirk themselves, amused by what they heard. "I still can't believe you actually did that Mister Treston" Logan added. Rolander chuckled quietly to himself inside his cockpit, still a bit embarrassed by his actions.

"I know, I can't believe I actually pulled it off either. But hey, we all survived didn't we? And we also took out the Roc and made all of their troops retreat" he replied. Taro grinned.

"Something tells me though that's still not gonna go well with the General and the Administrator" Lanawor commented. Treston was laughing out loud in a second, and behind him were all the other pilots, creating one big, carefree guffaw amongst themselves.

But Xigo was the only one not to laugh, or even have the slightest hint of happiness in his eyes. His face was flat, devoid of any emotion as he stared off into the distance, but not truly looking at anything. His mind was only on his thoughts of the battle with Nitras, and any other ideas he had about his old friend, who was now his deadliest enemy.

The sky opened up, and poured down rain onto the Earth.


	7. Phase 6 Rival Encounters

**_Phase 6- Rival Encounters_**

_Atlantic Federation Headquarters_

Leading the many pilots down the hall straight out of the docking bay were the five Gundam pilots, all them still in their leather uniforms after they had just gotten out of their machines. Talking along the way, they didn't even notice Jorno, General Toros and the others standing and smiling at them, before they were no more than ten feet away. Instantly they straightened their bodies out and gave a salute. The General laughed.

"No need for that guys, if anything we should be saluting _you_" he said.

"Indeed, you all did very well out there. You've won a great battle for us" the Administrator added. Jessa then walked over to her father and threw her arm about his shoulders.

"Yeah but it took you to do one of the craziest things possible" the girl joked. Treston chuckled with the others.

"That was one bold plan Mister Rolander" Commander Cerrical stated, "You're all lucky you managed to get outta there in time, that explosion measured to be three miles in diameter". Several of the pilots, including even Xigo, Rodka and Logan, all appeared surprised by the comment.

"It was _that _big? I didn't think even the A-Class Warheads had that power though…" Dile said. Arelie nodded.

"You're right, they don't. But from that size of the detonation, it's safe to say that the large aircraft of theirs was carrying some sort of powerful warheads themselves, most surely to drop over us" the Captain explained. Taro smirked.

"Well too bad for those suckers that they didn't get to go through with their lil plan; we really gave 'em a good beat down!" the Major exclaimed. Jorno smiled again.

"You very much did, especially you, Major Lanawor, with taking down that one enemy Gundam" the Administrator replied, and made Taro smirk again. "But there is one thing that now needs to be discussed" he continued, and his voice grew more serious. For a few moments he was silent, and then he turned to Xigo, who actually appeared a bit nervous. "Mister Shigora, we overheard you talking with the one Gundam pilot of the Double Edge during your fight, you must've had your radio on to reach us as well." Xigo cringed slightly, knowing what had happened. "Mainly, we heard you explain that you 'half-Natural'…". Most of the pilots all were taken aback, not knowing that Xigo had said that. The young man stood firmly, remaining calm, yet with a sigh.

"Yeah…I said that, and its true" the teen responded, "when I went back to my school, after visiting the Alaska Base, the Board did some research on my birth-records, and it turned out that I was actually born on Earth, here in the United States. My father was a Coordinator, and my mother was a Natural, so, while maybe not to a great extent, I am part Natural, and part Coordinator. Neither of them full." Jorno nodded.

"I see. Though as you may expect, that is not what concerns us. What does is the fact upon coming back here, you reported to us that you were full Coordinator. Tell me Xigo, would you hide the fact you had found out that you were Half-Natural?" the man asked. As all eyes in the corridor gazed upon the teen, Xigo set his eyes down, looking below as he began to think of how to explain it.

"Well, it mainly had to do with what happened at my school. You see, when I found that out, it spread to all the other students, and eventually everyone found out. From there, they started to hate me even more, and always ignored me or mocked me. They'd called me a half-breed and a phony all the time, because I wasn't full-Coordinator like them. Even more, they were all always mad, and jealous of me, because I was better than them at piloting even while I was part Natural. I felt like if I had told you that I wasn't a full Coordinator or Natural, I'd have to go through the same thing here, and always been seen as just this strange person that didn't fit in with anyone…". Xigo's tone had been disconsolate while he spoke, expressing how he truly felt from what he went through in the past months, and what it did to him to have such ridicule. Several of the pilots and officials all had a saddened expression after hearing his words, feeling much sympathy for the young man. But unlike them, Jorno smiled, and put his hand on Xigo's shoulder.

"You don't have to worry about anything like that" he said, and Xigo looked up to his smiling face, "you were accepted even when we believed you were full-Coordinator, one completely different from us Naturals. We don't care about what genetic type you are, what we care about is what kind of person you are, and from your emotions and personality, you became a very liked person, and a dear member to the Earth Alliance. We accepted you not because you were Coordinator, Natural, or as you are half of each, but instead because you were the great kid that is Xigo Shigora." By now the once distressed expressions on the many faces in the hallway had shifted to smiles, and eyes that showed a sense of happiness from Jorno's words. Even Xigo followed along like them.

"Th-thank you sir" he replied with a nod. The Administrator smirked, and gave him a pat on the back.

"Thata boy, now don't think any more upon this, it's nothing of concern" he said, making Xigo chuckle and nod once more. Jorno then turned to the rest of the crowd, his smile even wider. "And now besides that, I'm sure you'll all be happy to know now that new regiments are due to arrive here in no more than an hour. And because of that, I'll allow all of you to head out with the troops going to Denver to get supplies for the base, since we'll have an entire team ready to be at work in case of another attack. So I dismiss you all to go do as you please!". Quickly everyone was in a bustle, beginning to chatter just as before or walk off in all directions to head out and spend the rest of the day as they wanted. In the middle of it, Commander Cerrical walked over to Taro, a rather concerned look on her face.

"Taro…when you were fighting the Jet, we received all the radio messages you and the pilot shared as well. Was Worlat really on that thing?" she asked. He very much was reluctant to begin talking on it, but he nodded.

"Yeah, it's him for sure" he answered.

"I heard that all too, what was up with that?" Rodka asked, joining them. Taro was even more unsure as to if it should be explained to the young Redwing, but Cerrical was able to answer before him.

"Well, back a few years ago when we all stationed here instead of at Alaska, we had much lower ranks, and we were still working our ways up. We and Arelie had a friend who was just as good of a pilot as Taro. We always had all been together, but then by one year he started acting funny, and we noticed that he was becoming very arrogant. Eventually, when he was doing some practice battles with a Mobile Suit, he destroyed two others, and killed the pilots in both" she spoke. Rodka's eyes widened.

"Oh wow…". Taro then picked up where she left off.

"He was permanently released from the military, and also got several years in prison for it. Though, about a year ago, it was said that he escaped, and couldn't be found anywhere. I guess that Giyre had someone recognized his talent while he was with us, and then when he got kicked out, they helped his escape prison, and he went to join them…" the Major explained. Rodka gave the bombshell-whistle.

"Man, that's some crazy stuff. This guy sounds nuts" the teen said.

"Yeah, and now he seems obsessed with getting revenge on us, especially me, and I'm sure that fight didn't help things. Dammit, I wish I would've killed him" Taro spat as he clenched a fist. Cerrical put her hand over his, and looked up into his eyes.

"We have to take care of this cautiously, and discuss it with Arelie and the General later on" she made clear. The Major nodded after a few moments.

"Right…"

* * *

_Earth-Stationed Giyre Headquarters_

The hangar for the Ranocio Base of Giyre in Wyoming had much activity going on in, with pilots, technicians and mechanics running all about in the docking bay. The troops from the failed attack with the Roc had begun to return, and enter into the base to berth their machines. The Zephlers had landed outside on the airstrips, and all Blackhawks, whether damaged or completely in-tact, were continuing to dock into the station. The Gundams had as well, piloted by Nitras, Sakara and Uusiko. Though the Jet didn't manage to come in as well as the others, instead being dropped down onto a repair-pad by a pair of Mobile Suits. It was barely half of what it had once been, now missing an arm, its head, and a great portion of its legs.

"Impossible!" Worlat shouted as he stood several meters from it, his hands entrenched in his silver hair as his eyes bulged with insanity. "How could this beautiful machine be destroyed to such an extent? By that fool Taro and the measly little Strike Gundam?". While nearly all of the other military personal simply ignored the Sergeant, Balador had instead come to join him where he was, and speak to him unlike the others.

"You seem to underestimate the skill of that man. He was obviously a fine pilot, and as known, many Natural pilots have become experts over the years, as good as Coordinators. Mister Lanawor was obviously one of those, much like the pilots of the Blaze, Thunder and Emperor Gundams. And the Strike is no longer a useless Mobile Suit, the Earth Alliance made the three versions of it far stronger than the first strike was many years ago" the leader of Giyre explained wisely. But even his suave way of talking couldn't get through to the irate Worlat.

"But I'm better than him dammit! I should've defeated him!" he began with his tirade, "my weaponry was far superior expect for that stupid Heat Hyup Do. If its rod was stronger, his beam sabers would've never cut it in half, and I wouldn't have been taken off-guard, or had my Gundam dismantled like that!". Worlat now turned to Balador, appearing crazed as ever and making the situation out to be far more important than it was. "Sir, we have to have it repaired and improved as soon as possible!". Balador was slow to say what he wanted, but remained unconcerned of Worlat's reaction still.

"I'm afraid we can't do that…" he replied, trying to sound sympathetic but still smirking. Worlat's face warped.

"What?". Balador nodded, looking back over to the Jet.

"Yes, you see because it was created by Zaft, and we only stole it, the technology used to create it and what's inside it still is different from what we possess. So simply repairing it with our skills and equipment could actually make it only the same, or even worse than it was before. It could even cause control problems and machinery failures, and I most certainly wouldn't want to have your life risked while inside it" Varo explained with a grin.

"Huh? No, that can't be! There's gotta be something we can do!" Worlat cried.

"Unfortunately for a long while now there isn't anything possible, it's as simple as that."

"Then what I am I going to pilot for the future missions?". Balador chuckled at the question, slightly befuddling Worlat. He moved closer to him, and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, we have another Mobile Suit of great strength being created, and I'll make sure that you become its pilot". Balador smirked, and walked away from Worlat, who simply looked back at the Jet.

"But…I was so amazing with this thing…I-I was-so…" he began to mutter to himself, but then screamed aloud from his state of lunacy. Varo laughed to himself as the cries came to his ears.

Sitting on a sloppy pile of metal crates were the three young Gundam pilots; Nitras, Sakara and Uusiko, all nearly silent and with depressed expressions. They merely sat drinking from their bottled water, and looking down at the ground as they sighed. When Balador came to them, he felt surprised by their current condition, but still kept his usual smile.

"What's wrong boys? You look truly distraught" he said. They all looked up at their leader, and Sakara was the first to speak.

"We're just disappointed about the mission sir, we're sorry that we messed up…" the young Zanakal answered. Balador chuckled.

"Oh nonsense, don't worry about the mission, it's nothing to reflect on". They all were surprised.

"But sir, the Roc was completely destroyed…" Nitras said. The leader of Giyre had a smug look.

"The Roc isn't what will win us the war. It's you Gundam pilots that are our most important weapons, and you all survived, so that's all that should matter…" he explained. Although it eased the teens a bit, they still felt disheartened from the result of their operation.

"Yeah, but the mission was still a complete failure…" Uusiko grumbled.

"Not so much" Balador quickly shot back, "because of that mission, we were able to see all of the Gundam's powers. So, we now have a great deal of information on them, the fact that they were pushed that far to use their full power allowed us to evaluate their strength." In a mere instant, Sakara's eyes had lit up.

"Hey, that's right…" he added. Balador nodded.

"Indeed. So don't put yourselves down, you three did not bring about the failure of the mission" he explained. As he took his pause, the boys began to lose their once disconsolate expressions, and appear relieved from his words. And he continued. "Now then, you three know about going to the city to re-supply, but I'll allow for you guys to do as you please instead of helping the others. Think of it as a day off." They all were even more cheerful.

"That's sweet! I hear that place has a ton of awesome stuff" Uusiko said.

"It does. But remember, you'll also be going with the Ale troops to attack the Colodonia Base in the next couple days, you know the objective?" Balador asked. The three pilots all nodded.

"Yes sir, take part in the head-on assault and destroy the control center and all barracks" Nitras replied. Varo smirked.

"Very good, you'll all be fine. Now then, get back to whatever you're doing today, I must got".

"Yes sir!" they answered with a salute as Balador turned and began to walk off.

He left the entire docking bay, and proceeded to make his way back to the room he had been in before he came to see the troops that returned. A short stroll down a few hallways allowed for him to re-enter the dormitory, where all lights were off, and only a mere computer screen had an illumination. Balador seated himself before the screen, and for a moment gazed at the image that was frozen, one of the Roc flying over a large city. With a simple click of another button, the image came to life, and the screen now showed a video of the massive aircraft soaring above the metropolis. Within a few moments, the doors beneath it opened to the sides, and three large bombs were released. They plummeted through the clouds, and in seconds landed in the heart of the city, creating a massive explosion that rocked the entire area, completely wiping out miles of the metropolitan.

"I do not mean to interrupt, but is that from the attack on Spokane?" a man asked from behind Balador. It was the person who had spoken with the Giyre Leader just before they entered the ZAFT Headquarters, and learned of the entire plan he had. Knowing who it was, Balador didn't look back.

"It is, and I must say it went very smoothly". The high-rank official, Geraldo, advanced closer, and chuckled as he watched the aftershock level more of the city.

"So it seems, I've heard reports that more than half of it was destroyed" he said.

"Oh and that's very true, just the same with the Utah Earth Base" Balador told him.

"Ahh so you had it attack there as well. Very smart move sir". Balador showed a sense of pride in his wicked actions.

"And what's even smarter is that I kept the information from reaching all of our younger pilots. They do not understand the true desires behind Giyre, nor are the old enough to serve for those reasons as well. Better that they follow the false motives instead". Geraldo understood the vague comments perfectly.

"Yes, especially those Gundam pilots, they would go crazy. They're amazing, no doubt about it, but they're not smart enough, or experienced enough to realize how important attacks like that are" the official added.

"Very true, we'll keep it from them for a long while now. Their skills, and their Gundams are a big asset to us now. Though, it's a good thing that I don't overestimate them. I do admit, I doubted that we'd have success in the attack on the Atlantic Headquarters, so I gave the Roc crew special, and secret orders to release the bombs on the two cities they passed over. So, while our main plan didn't work out, and we lost the Roc itself…we've dealt two crushing blows to the Earth Alliance…" Balador bragged, snickering, with Geraldo doing the same.

"May we watch the other crushing blow?" he asked. Balador pushed a button on his control panel.

"You bet."

* * *

_Denver Colorado, the next day_

The city of Denver was a very large, populated, yet beautiful city that any would enjoy coming too. It was not surprising that the Atlantic Federation Headquarters personal always enjoyed going to the metropolis to restock supplies, and spend a day seeing all sites of the capital.

The day after the battle with the Roc, the crew left the base by plane, and landed in the airport late in the morning. The teams sent to the warehouses to buy provisions were still going back and forth at their cargo jets, delivering crates upon crates to the groups who were loading them on. The others, including the Gundam pilots, were all sauntering about city, stopping at stores, restaurants and whatever else caught their attention. Jina and Iryn had gone with Shirta and Jessa to the mall, where they had been for almost the entire day so far. Treston was with the three young Gundam pilots, as well as Gartol, all stopping in at a few other large-scale stores, while Cerrical, Toros, Arelie and Taro all were together heading for a bistro for their lunch.

As one o'clock in the afternoon rolled around, the quintet of 'guys' were all going down a busy street, Logan, Rodka and Gartol all walking together as they still obsessed over what they had bought at the last store then went to.

"Man check out these new sneakers I got, can't wait to play some b-ball in these!" Rodka exclaimed, showing off the pair of white shoes, still tight in the box.

"I can't wait to play either, this basketball I got has gotta the best one I've ever seen in my entire life. That's sweet how they let you try 'em out in the store" Logan said as he held up his bag.

"I think they made a big mistake letting you do that though, I watched ya from the hockey aisle, you had more bricks than any other guy I've seen try to shoot" Gartol laughed. Dile's face twisted.

"Those were just some unlucky shots, just wait until we play at the base one day, I'll show you all who can sink 'em!" Logan quickly defended. Gartol was making another wisecrack, and Logan was back to make up another excuse as Rodka continued to laugh at the two. Behind them, Treston and Xigo walked, Mr. Rolander smiling casually as he listened to the others. Xigo on the other hand had had no emotion on his face, as he just stared ahead, no particular sight. Treston had noticed his quietness, and with a glance of his bag thought of something to try and get a conversation going.

"So, what did you buy there?" the man asked.

"Just a football jersey. Something to wear for when I don't feel like putting on the military uniform" Xigo answered, surprisingly a calm tone to his voice rather than a dull one. Treston felt relieved to know he didn't seem depressed or such.

"Heh, that's cool, I used to love wearing those when I was your age. And whenever me and my friend's actually played out in the field I wore one" he said. Xigo smiled slightly.

"Yeah, they're always cool to wear for that too" he added. Treston looked at him to the side as they still walked ahead.

"There's that smile. I haven't seem that much all day" Mr. Rolander spoke. Xigo couldn't hamper even a small chuckle.

"I can imagine how you feel. I'm fine, just a bit tired. Didn't exactly sleep well last night" the teen clarified.

"That's no surprise, you were probably still stimulated from the fight" Treston said. Xigo nodded. As the group of them stopped at a corner with a red light, Rodka noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey look at that! A shooting gallery!" he cried, pointing to the building. Gartol's eyes instantly lit up.

"Oh dude that's awesome, let's go check it out!" the man said. In a second he, Rodka and Logan were heading over to the attraction, leaving Xigo and Treston alone by the street corner still.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get a drink at that tavern over there" Shigora said first, indicating the café across the road.

"I'll go with you too" Treston replied, "don't wanna be anywhere near those guys when they have guns". This time Xigo couldn't even hold back a true laugh.

* * *

_Outdoor Restaurant _

On the outside deck of another eatery, a man sat alone at a small round table. It appeared that he wanted to conceal himself, with jet black sunglasses over his eyes, and a newspaper directly in front of him. Every so often he'd stick his hand out to grab the cup of coffee that was set on a small plate on his stand, but even then he didn't reveal his face to the others on the porch of the bistro. For all this time he had been silent, not saying a word, and behind his newspaper without any emotion on his face. Although when he heard Taro Lanawor's voice, along with three others he recognized, the silver-haired man smiled deviously.

The General, Cerrical and Arelie all sat down at one table with Taro, and ordered a large pot of coffee for themselves as a waitress passed them by. Even when only Toros was the one in his uniform, the man behind the newspaper knew for sure who they were, and could only grow more delighted at their arrival.

"Jeez what a beautiful city this is, that park was absolutely gorgeous" Arelie said as she set her purse down by her chair.

"It is. I always love coming here when the base needs to restock" the General affirmed, as Taro smirked at him.

"Yeah, and lucky for guys you and the rest of us, we just get to prance about the place doing whatever we want all day" the man joked. The others all laughed, and the silver-haired man's grin widened.

"That's true Taro, but that's you get when you lead the entire military" Toros said with a bit of pride to his voice. Commander Cerrical rolled her eyes as another waiter set down their coffee.

"Oh gimme a break sir" she complained. As Toros reddened a bit, Miss Saruma poured herself a cup of the hot, frothy drink, and then took her first sip.

"How is it?" Arelie asked, filling her own glass. Cerrical smiled widely as she finished.

"Delicious" she answered. The silver-haired man chuckled. Arelie drank a bit of the coffee, and had the same smile the Commander did afterwards.

"Hey she's right! It's amazing" the Captain said.

"Well then again you seem to like any coffee you ever drink" Taro teased. Arelie shrugged as Toros and Cerrical laughed.

"I can't deny that, it keeps me up all day when I'm bored". Once again the group laughed, but another voice joined in as well.

From his table, the man behind his newspaper was laughing out loud. Taro and the others all glanced over at him, surprised and very much confused by his obstreperous guffaw.

"Oh my, I apologize, I just find that so funny Captain Arelie" he said, making her freeze from that he knew her name, and making Taro's eyes widened as he heard his voice. The man lowered his newspaper, and grinned. "You're just the same as you used to be…". The silver-haired man's grin widened. Their faces distorted.

"Worlat?" Taro shouted.

* * *

_Tavern _

Sakara sent a yellow ball rolling into the pocket upon a perfect hit from the cue ball. The young Giyre pilot smirked as he stood up from the pool table.

"Let's see what else I can knock in" he said, moving across the stand to find the perfect shot. Uusiko stood away from him, holding a pool stick himself as he held a glass filled with his favorite soft drink.

"Try and nail a shot like you did before, with those three all in at once" he said. Sakara snickered.

"I don't need to try for something like that" he confidently replied, striking the cue-ball and sending it to hit another trio of the hard spheres, sending all into a separate pocket across the table.

The tavern they were in was nice and quiet, barely any people inside but them, as well as Nitras who sat at the bar. A jukebox played a soft, relaxing melody, the ideal tune for the three young men as they enjoyed some time away from their military surroundings. As his two friends played a game of pool, Nitras was relaxing with a drink of his own, simply resting in the peaceful atmosphere.

"Hey Nitras, why don't you come play another game with us?" Uusiko called out, finally getting his turn to send a ball into the pocket. The young Dolorga smirked behind at them.

"'cause I don't feel like beating you both again" he answered. Sakara and Uusiko chuckled, and got back to their game. Nitras had then turned away from the two, and slugged down the rest of his drink. "Can I get another please?" he asked the bartender, and the man nodded.

"I'll have the same thing" a voice said to the side of him. Nitras's eyes perked with surprise for a moment, and then he was even more shocked as he saw Xigo casually sit down next to him. But the Earth-Pilot didn't even look at him; he only looked down at the counter, his eyes showing nothing positive. "Hey…" he quietly greeted. Nitras knew in an instant what Xigo was feeling, and that he himself felt the pain as well.

"Hey…" he answered back, looking away. The bar-tender brought their drinks by, and they both handed him the cost. Xigo was the first to sip his.

"It's been too long since we've seen each other outside of a battle" Shigora stated afterwards. Nitras nodded.

"It has" he agreed, and drank some of his beverage. They both became silent, and after another short time Dolorga felt something needed to be discussed. "Look Xigo…I'm sorry about what I said before…I didn't have clue…". There was very little concern on Xigo's face.

"I expect that. I didn't know for fourteen years of my life. I only found it out while you were visiting Giyre" Shigora explained, "it took some real dumb-luck and a lot of research for the school-board to find out everything".

"That's not just it. Whether we're enemies or not now, I shouldn't have said that all Naturals were worthless…because you're not worthless at all…" Nitras continued. Xigo finally glanced over at him.

"Well, at least it's good to see that we don't completely hate each other even during a war, when we're on opposite sides" he mentioned. Nitras looked back to him.

"Yeah, but...I could never hate you, you've been my best friend for years. And even after all this time, when we haven't seen each other except in the middle of a battle…I don't have a friend as good as you…" he spoke, truthfully. Xigo knew this, but wanted to get deeper into his friend.

"What of those two over there?" Shigora asked, implying Uusiko and Sakara.

"They're great friends too, and very loyal companions. But what you and me went through, they can never match" Nitras said, and began to clench his fist, "it's why I hate this war so much, because it's turned us against each other, and almost made us true mortal enemies from our last fight. We may have to battle again, and if luck is against us, we could have terrible results…". Xigo took a large gulp of his drink, and set the glass down roughly on the table with a sigh.

"I know, we may be calm and peaceful here, but we've seen that in battle we could give a care how long we've been friends for. But believe me Nitras, I don't intend to kill you, or even attempt to unless it's the most dire of situations. I know we can survive this war, and hopefully…it'll end before anything does happen between us…" he prayed. Nitras felt his body become more relaxed, and surprising, even to himself, Xigo's words empowered his spirit.

"Maybe-maybe you're right. Even if we stay with the sides we're on now, no matter how mad at each we are for it…maybe most of the fighting can end. No matter who wins, and even if there is no real winner, things can work out between everyone, and all of our ideals, for Earth, Zaft and Giyre can be realized" Dolorga added onto. Xigo ignored all thoughts about Giyre, and decided to keep silent about mentioning anymore on it as he finished his drink.

"Yeah, let's just hope for the best. There is a way to solve this all, we just have to find it…" he said. He pushed his glass ahead on the counter, and threw a tip down next to it for the bartender. "Well, I gotta leave now Nitras, but it was great seeing you in person" Xigo began, his back facing his friend, "I wish you luck…". With that he began to walk off to the exit, and from the Video Poker Computer where he sat, Treston spotted him leaving.

"Right behind ya kid" he said, catching up to him quickly and then leaving. Nitras stared at the doorway for several seconds after they had gone, a completely different expression on his face than when before Xigo came by.

"_There is a way to solve this all, we just have to find it…" _he repeated to himself in his head.

* * *

"No way! What the hell are _you _doing here?" Arelie questioned. Worlat threw his head back and laughed again from the inquiry. He set his newspaper down on the table, and then removed his sunglasses to reveal his devilish blue eyes.

"I'm enjoying this wonderful city just as you are. You see we have troops around gathering supplies for us, but being the high-ranking official that I am, I've been allowed to do whatever I please here. Just as you seem to be" he answered. General Toros narrowed his eyes sternly at him.

"So, Taro was correct, you have joined Giyre…". The Sergeant nodded.

"I have, and I've enjoyed every single second of it. It's such a wonderful organization, and they show me the true respect I deserve…" Worlat went on. Commander Cerrical sneered at her old friend.

"After joining those war-mongers, you deserve no respect, though you never deserved it after what you did back when you were in the Earth Military" the woman spat. Worlat was amused by the harsh comment.

"You people are not the kind that are strong enough to understand how humanity works in the world. I was the best pilot you had, and you were mad when I showed my true skill in a test battle. Those weaklings I fought were not mighty enough to be worthy in the military or in any war, and so I killed them, and gave them a lesson they would take with them to their death, that the strongest, like me, are the only ones who deserve to succeed". Toros had to tighten his fist until his nails were digging into his palm to control himself.

"Those were two men with wives and children, and you slaughtered them in a test-battle to show off your skill with a mobile suit. You're as crazed today as you were then Worlat, I just wish your punishment would've been worse than removal from the military and imprisonment. How you got such a high-rank in Giyre astounds me, your superior must be truly be as insane as you are" the General coldly stated. Worlat chuckled, finding the these remarks just as funny as Cerrical's.

"Ahh Toros, you're so very wrong. My leader Balador Varo is an utter genius, and understands the philosophies I follow. He knows more about war and military power than anyone on Earth could hope to, and that's why he doesn't see me as a crazed lunatic that you do, but instead as one of the greatest Mobile Suit pilots to ever grace this universe. That's why I was so blessed to receive one of the Gundams Giyre stole from Zaft" he spoke. Taro's once irate expression shifted with a smirk at the mentioning of the Jet.

"Oh yeah, that Gundam I completely mauled in our last battle. You have an odd definition of 'blessed', considering how easy I destroyed that thing" the Major taunted. Surprisingly, very much unlike his attitude at the hangar, Worlat smirked himself and gave a shrug.

"You indeed did defeat me Taro, but I won't let that affect me anymore. You see, Giyre is currently creating a new Mobile Suit that's even more powerful than the Jet Gundam, and Balador has especially promised that I'll be its pilot. I've been lucky enough to see it in person, and witness demos of its power. It's nearly complete, so it won't be long before you meet me in battle once more" Worlat clarified.

"Good, I can't wait to trash that one as well" Taro shot back. Content, and humored by the reply, Worlat smiled, and nodded.

"Very well then, it's something I look forward to" he stated, and then stood up from his chair. Grabbing his newspaper and folding it up, as well as putting on his sunglasses, Worlat looked back at them once more. "Wonderful to see you all again, but I must go now". The Sergeant then walked off from the stand, and off the porch of the restaurant, leaving the area completely.

"That dirty son of a bitch…" Arelie murmured as she turned away from him.

"Yeah, he'll get it one day, just watch…" Taro said. The man paused, and took a deep breath, then breathing out. "But we can't let that get to us, let's enjoy the rest of the day" he added with a smile. The others nodded in agreement.

* * *

_Denver Airport_

By evening, those who came from the Atlantic Federation Headquarters were at the airport, waiting on the sides of one of the landing zones for their plane to arrive. Most of the troops who spent the day gathering supplies had gotten on their flights and were heading back, while all the provisions were some hours ahead of them. General Toros, Treston, Jessa, and everyone from the Alaska Base were altogether, the majority remaining quiet, while Jina, Iryn and Shirta still talked amongst themselves.

"Oh jeez I hope we can come back again, this city is just so awesome!" Jina exclaimed, still very gleeful from her time within in.

"Yeah and they got some really awesome shops here too, I've never seen a mall that big in my entire life!" Iryn added. Shirta smirked from their rather, 'girlish' comments.

"I'm sure so long as we keep up our work that the Administrator will be as generous as he was today, and let us come here again when they have to re-supply. We'll all be back here again" the young woman reassured. Just then a small jet started to land, and slowly made its way to the entire group as it decreased in speed.

"Ahh good there's our flight, I can't wait to get back to the base to see how my new fighter is" Jessa stated.

"You mean they've got it at the base?" Shirta asked, beginning to make her way up the stairs to the plane.

"Yep, I think it's almost complete too". As they both continued discussing it, Gartol groaned.

"You can always expect girls to break the silence with their endless talking" he murmured to Taro. Shirta raised an eyebrow.

"I heard that bro" she said back. Gartol's face reddened as most of the others laughed.

"Oh you did? My bad…" he apologized with a humiliated grin. Soon everyone had stepped on into the jet, expect for Xigo who had been behind them all. While at the top step, he halted for a moment, and took that second to look back at the city one more time. His eyes gazed off at the metropolis, but his mind centered around his meeting with Nitras earlier that day, and all the thought-provoking statements they exchanged. And then the young man entered.

* * *

_Ranocio Infirmary _

Inside the Ranocio Base, a man grunted and writhed on one of the medical beds, with three of the best doctors aiding to him. The man was quite large and bulky, but his body appeared as if it had gone through hell and returned. Scars, bruises, burns and welts of all sizes covered his chest and right arm, giving him a frightening, yet sickening physique. His left arm hadn't a mark on it, though that was because it was made of metal, and had been attached to his shoulder no more than two days ago. The doctors were all covered from head to toe in their white uniforms, blood stains on a few of them as they continued their work with the patient. They all leaned forward over him, doing their work very gingerly as they attached a thin metal slab to the man's face. As they applied it, a few streams of blood flowed from where it was put, and the patient cried out for a split moment.

"Well, that's it, it's all complete Mister Ragoss" the head doctor stated as he stood up straight, and began to remove his gloves and mask. The other assistants quickly began to do the same, and also went to the sinks to wash their hands as he did. The man, indeed Ragoss, sat up, his hand against left side of his face and covering his eye and most of his cheek. He slowly removed it, revealing the part of his face that no longer skin, but what was like a part of a metal mask.

"Oh God this kills, how long will the pain for this last?" Ragoss asked.

"I would say about three or four days" the doctor answered, turning to him and drying his hands off, "and if you take those pills I prescribed you then pain shouldn't be as bad." Ragoss groaned.

"Well that's something good to know. This whole episode has been a major pain in the ass" the large man grumbled. The doctor couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"You should be a little happier Mister Ragoss, you're very lucky to even be alive after that explosion. Your injuries could've been far worse" he explained.

"Yeah I guess you're right, just so long as this doesn't affect my piloting terribly than I'll be able to manage" Ragoss replied, and slipped on his green sleeveless jacket. A moment or two later, the doors to the clinic slid open, and Balador stepped in. The leader of Giyre instantly noticed Ragoss and grinned.

"Very good to see you again Ragoss, I'm hoping you're feeling better" he greeted. The bulky man had a displeased reaction as he got off the bed.

"I'll be okay after a few days. My arm, leg and upper body are mostly better, now I just gotta wait for my face to heal up, and get used to this mask" he said.

"Ahh yes, but you seem to be coming along quite well. To me that's all that matters, I know have one of my bets pilots back" Balador proclaimed. Ragoss was uninterested by the remarks.

"Yeah, so speaking of that, when do I get to head back into action?" he questioned. Balador gave off that usual 'fake sympathy' look.

"Well, that's the problem. Until you're completely cleared by our doctors here, I cannot allow you to step into another machine. Though, if your progress goes better than expected, I think I can make an exception to that" Varo said. Ragoss was content enough on the deal.

"Good enough for me, I'll be okay in four or five days" he quickly spat out, "though what will I be piloting? The Demolition is gone, those three kids have one of their own each, and Worlat's using the Jet". A glint of amusement could be seen in Balador's eyes.

"Well, you're not completely correct. You see, in our last major battle, Worlat was defeated by one of the Strike Gundams, and the Jet was terribly damaged. Seeing as how his air-piloting skills aren't all too good with a Gundam, I'm instead giving him a new high-class Mobile Suit based off the Blackhawks. But, if our repair team has some luck, and the Jet is able to be restored, and operate well, I'll be glad to allow you to pilot it." Ragoss nodded, and pondered over the possibilities of using that particular machine.

"Hmm, that could actually be really good. I always liked it, and I'm sure I could do better with it than Worlat, since I've had past experience with Gundams" the man meditated, "alright, that sounds good Sir, but if it's not completed before, or when I'm ready to get back to fighting, what should I use?". Balador shrugged.

"It's up to you really; a regular Mobile Suit would still be very deadly in your hands. I would think an Ale or a Goliath Suit would be a good choice as just a temporary machine" he suggested.

"Alright, that sounds fine as well" Ragoss quickly responded, and pointed to the door with his thumb, "I'm gonna go to other medical department to pick up my prescription. See you around Sir". With a nod from Balador, he left the room, and went down the hallway. Balador crossed his arms, and smirked contently. The doctor walked up closer to him, appearing concerned.

"Uhh, I hope you don't mind me asking Sir, but are you sure he should be piloting even after the four days for his face to strengthen?" the man inquired. Balador didn't even look at him, but instead snickered.

"It's nothing to be worry about" he answered.

* * *

_Atlantic Federation Headquarters Hangar, late that Night_

"Taro, hand that big wrench right there" Desial stated as he stared into one of the engine compartments of the newest Earth Alliance Fighter Craft, the Csander. Light purple in color, and with a thick stocky body, as well as two angled arms, it was certainly an impressive craft. One of these had been sent to the Headquarters especially for Jessa Rolander to pilot, and at the moment, even in the middle of the night, she, Desial and Taro were all finishing up some extra work on it.

Taro quickly handed him the tool, and the mechanic fastened a few bolts. Just then Jessa stuck her head out from the door of the cockpit.

"Hey Taro, can you see if the boosters will work when I start this up?" she asked. The Major shrugged.

"Yeah sure why not" he answered with a yawn, beginning to grow sleepy. Standing several meters from the back of the craft, Jessa turned it on, and the five jets in the back released small flames. "You're good girl, it should be fine when you need to increase their output" he called out through the noise. She turned off the boosters, but left the plane's main engine running.

"Thanks Taro" she called back. Desial then rolled out from under it, and stood up as he tossed the wrench back into a large toolbox.

"Alright Jessa, the flap's screwed on tight, that thing won't be coming off anytime soon. What else ya need?" he asked. Jessa continued trying out all the buttons, switches and monitors on her control panel.

"I don't think much more, all the computers here in the cockpit seem to be working fine. And the system seems perfect. Would one of you mind checking out the guns for a second though?" the teen replied.

"I'm on it" Taro said, and went over to the left arm, where on the end were three gun-barrels. He was interested by them at his first glance. "Hmm, forty or fifty millimeter they look like, pretty nice".

"Yeah, and they have Hyper-Fire so they're even better" Jessa added, and then sent the barrels rolling. Taro jumped back in a flash as his face twisted.

"Holy crap! Watch those things!" he cried from being startled. The young Rolander laughed.

"Don't worry Taro, it was just the secondary mode, all it does is automatically get the barrels ready to fire instantly when I command it, rather than a slow start in the first mode" Jessa clarified. Taro massaged his head as he still breathed heavily.

"Yeah, well don't go doing that to me again" he said. Desial exhaled deeply as he sat down on a metal crate.

"Anything else then?". Jessa's eyes scanned over her control panel one more time.

"No, I think I'm fine for tonight, we can be done. I'll just have the extra ammo compartments filled tomorrow morning. I wanna get to bed now honestly" she replied, and turned off the Csander completely. Taro covered his mouth as he yawned again.

"You and me both". Desial hopped off the crate and grabbed his toolbox.

"Well I'll just clean up some of my stuff around here and then I'll be hittin' the sack too, had to work on those Gundams all day" the mechanic complained. Taro watched Jessa as she left the hangar, though went to a different hallway than the one her bedroom was in.

"Where is she going?".

Jessa smiled as she walked down the corridor, passing by several more bedrooms with their doors closed. It was now almost two o'clock in the morning, and most of the main crew had gone to sleep, only the small night-shift groups were up and still working. She came by one room that had its door open, and stepped in quietly to see Xigo lying on his bed. The boy had his pillow against the bed stand, and was where he rested his head. His uniform was in a pile next to his bed, not exactly being his favorite choice of sleep-wear. Jessa noticed the CD-Player next to him on the bed, and even though she could hear faint sounds from the apparently rock music, his eyes were closed and his body barely had any movement. She smiled again, and then flipped the light switch to turn them off.

"Keep 'em on" Xigo suddenly stated, startling her for a moment.

"Oh, sorry Xigo, I thought you were asleep" she apologized with a humored smirk, and turned the lights back on.

"I haven't been able to for an hour now, so I figure I just listen to some music" he explained, still with his eyes closed.

"Yeah, that used to help me a lot too when I was younger" Jessa appended.

"It's very relaxing, especially if it's is somewhat calm" Shigora said. Jessa hampered a chuckle.

"I'll let you rest then, good night Xigo" she told him, and then closed the door behind her. The young man still lay on his bed in the same position, little or no movement as well, and with his eyes remaining closed. Xigo eventually turned the dial on his CD-Player, increasing the volume. It appeared that he felt like enjoying his music more than trying to fall asleep.

* * *

_Ranocio Base, the next morning_

With the siren blaring throughout the building, Nitras, Sakara and Uusiko all barreled down the hallway in their piloting suits, many other soldiers right behind them. They were all heading to the hangar, where they'd be taking off in their Mobile Suits for one of the Earth Forces Bases in the Rockies again. The attack-group was smaller than the last assault on the Atlantic Headquarters, and didn't even have Worlat coming along, but to Balador it was more than enough to get the job done, especially with the three young Gundam pilots.

As they made their way down the hall, Nitras glanced out of the corner of his eye at Uusiko, finally noticing the teen's now shorter, and straight hair.

"What'd you do with your hair?" Dolorga asked with a smirked. Uusiko grinned at him.

"Got it cut just a bit, and had it straightened. I was getting tired of it being messier" he answered.

"Why would you go and do that?" Nitras pressed.

"It was beginning to be a bit of a pain just, and for piloting it's not the best to have it covering my face half the time" Uusiko said.

"I don't think you'd have to even worry about this one today. Nothing but a bunch of Mobile Suits and Mobiles Armors at the base, we'll take care of this in no time" Sakara added. Nitras nodded. By then they all arrived in the docking bay, and every soldier ran to their specified machine to get into their cockpit. In a few minutes, when most of the Mobile Suits and all three Gundams were up and running, the doors to the hangar slowly slid open, clearing the path for them to launch.


	8. Phase 7 The Red Eye Warrior

**_Phase 7- The Red Eye Warrior_**

_Atlantic Federation Vorga Base, that morning_

On the waters of the Pacific, and the shores of Washington, Giyre and Earth Alliance troops met in a massive battle. Warships of all kinds sailed along the waves, deploying more Mobile Suits and firing off all weaponry they had at their foes. From the ocean Giyre attacked with Zaft regiments of Goohns and Ginn Wasps, and in the air Blackhawks and Ales were raining down onto the coast of the major Earth Forces base.

But the Atlantic Troops, even when outnumbered, continued to fight on with all their might holding off all that came at them with lines of Strike Rogues. Their twin 120 millimeter Chain Guns were all unloading more bullets than a person could hope to count, sending the sprays of fire into the lines of Giyre troops. Skygraspers flew on like hawks, dodging all they could and retaliating with every beam, cannon and gun that was attached to their bodies. Even desperate groups of Rollers slowly moved ahead close to the front line, their shoulder cannons constantly sending more blasts off into the distance, only adding to the chaos of the enormous battle.

"Lieutenant Likoal, back-line Giyre troops are retreating from the battlefield, and all forces up ahead are slowly backing off" a communicator announced from his computer in the control room of the base. The military official, Lieutenant Likoal, quickly turned from the large table-lay map in the middle of the room, and looked out the main window.

"So I see…" he replied, noticing the masses of Giyre troops leisurely falling back against all Earth Forces fire. He sighed with relief. "Well, we've managed to hold out again…but can we manage another attack…?".

"Lieutenant, Captain Handas reports that we've lost half of our troops" another communicator stated. Likoal's sigh this time was a bit different.

"Great, we lost half during the first assault, so now we're down to only a quarter of our original forces" the man said.

"What should we do sir?" a Corporal asked. As the Lieutenant held a hand over his eyes, he remained silent, thinking deeply for what his answer should be. No one said anything during his pause, certainly not wishing to aggravate him, but more importantly due to their suspense to hear what his reply would be.

"Send a message to the Headquarters in Colorado, we need back up, _now" _Likoal declared.

* * *

_Atlantic Federation Colodonia Base_

As the afternoon rolled on, more battling was commencing, this one taking place on the shores of Oregon, outside of the city of North Bend, at a strong Earth Alliance Base. Though today it proved to be inferior to the Giyre forces that arrived, barley able to hold off any of the attacking lines. Even with their best Mobile Suits, the Strike Rogues and M1 Astrays, the sheer amount of Giyre troops overwhelmed them, and given that they had the three Gundams on their side made the fight much easier for them.

A wave of Blackhawks soared over the docks, blowing apart every last Moebius that hopelessly tried to stand in their way. With their 130 millimeter machine guns shooting every last bullet, and their Falcon-Class Rocket Launcher firing explosive after explosion, their flew over the entire harbor, tearing through any enemy lines and creating a line of blasts across the area that wrecked the docks.

Meanwhile more lines of Ales were flying off from the Pilarldo Class Warships they were held in. Rich-green in color, and with a finely created suit of the titanium armor, the Mobile Suits were some of the best Giyre had in their military. Flying in large groups, they stormed onto the further shore of the base, every single one letting off with their 77 millimeter Forna Beam Rifles. All Mobile Suits, Mobile Armors, stationary weaponry and even buildings that were struck exploded in an instant, the powerful beam cutting straight through them and creating the detonation next. All that survived the first onslaught were quickly demolished as the Ales landed, torn apart at the hands of their YPS Beam Sabers.

But as expected, it was the trio of Gundams that were doing the most damage, and proving to be the absolute strongest things on the battlefield at the moment. The Titan and the Double Edge flew together in the sky, making a deadly team as they wiped out everything in their path. Nitras had his Gundam blowing apart all opposition on the ground with a powerful Energy Blaster Bomb Cannon, a weapon that fired off golden spheres of pure energy. At the same time the explosions wrecked more of the base, including several large buildings. Aiding to him was Sakara in the Titan, taking out all enemies in the sky around with the help of his thick war-hammer.

Eventually though he landed onto the roads of the base, and had the Titan aim its 170mm Chain Gun at an entire line of Rollers and Strike Rogues. In an instant the barrel was spinning, unloading an incredible spray of bullets that struck the forces head on. The ammunition tore through the heavily armored machines like paper, completely ripping them apart to causing them to explode from damages inside.

"Hell yeah! It's been too long since I've been able to raise hell with this puppy!" Sakara yelled with a wide grin from inside his cockpit. After nearly thirty seconds of non-stop fire, his chain gun ran out of ammo, and about ten Earth Alliance Mobile Suits still stood in tact. Before he could reload, the Double Edge flew clear past him, its twin blades mounted.

"Lemme take care of those guys" Nitras said.

"Sure thing man" Sakara replied. The Double Edge came at the enemies in a flash, sending its blades slicing and dicing all around as he moved from foe to foe with amazing speed. With each swipe he cut one of them clear in half, until all were destroyed in a ball of fire of their own.

"Alright good, now all we have to do is destroy the control center and we should be done" Nitras stated.

"And that's my job" Uusiko abruptly answered as he came into the area with the Bloodfire, its white beam sabers just finished with ripping apart entire groups of Moebiuses. On its shoulders, two extensions opened up into circular shape, and in the middle of glowed a bright red light.

"We better stand back for this one" Sakara said with a smirk. The extensions on the Bloodfire then shot out a huge beam of fiery energy each, straight at the control complex of the Colodonia Base. A massive explosion wiped it off the face of the Earth in mere seconds, taking some dozens of buildings and enemy machines with it in the process.

"Oh yeah! That's how we do it!" Uusiko exclaimed, very pleased by the devastating results. As Nitras smiled, a screen with the visual of one of the squad leaders then appeared on his screen.

"Ensign Dolorga, we report that all barracks are destroyed, and any troops we didn't get have retreated into the hills" he heralded.

"Perfect" Nitras simply replied, "Our mission here is complete, let's head back to the base" he stated to all pilots.

"Hey wait! We can't let our enemies make it away safely, let's chase after 'em all and take 'em down!" another solider cried. Nitras's eyes narrowed.

"Our mission was to only destroy the control center and all barracks of this base. The entire place is useless now, and we've completely wrecked the area along with the majority of their forces. We have no orders to destroy any enemies that retreat. As the leader of this operation, I order all ships and Mobile Suits to follow me back to the Headquarters" the young Dolorga severely explained, shocking the soldier that last spoke, and all others, "now let's head out!". With that the Double Edge's boosters were turned back on, and the Gundam took off into the sky, heading away from the base and in the direction of their base. Quickly following him were Uusiko and Sakara, and then soon the rest of the troops.

"Way to show him who's boss" Uusiko said with a grin. Nitras threw his head back and laughed with his friends.

"That comes natural, I'm just that good" he joked.

* * *

_Atlantic Federation Headquarters, Rockies_

"Sure thing Lieutenant, we'll arrive there as soon as possible" Commander Cerrical said. On the large monitor before her, Likoal of the Colodonia Base nodded.

"Thank you very much Commander, we're all grateful here for your support" the man replied.

"It's no problem at all. We'll see you as soon as possible". Miss Saruma then turned off the screen, just as the group of the three Gundam pilots, Jina and Iryn, Gartol and Shirta, and Jessa all walked into the small communications room. All of them had been told that the Commander wanted them to come to see her, for reasons they didn't know yet. Cerrical turned around, quickly glancing over them. "Good, you're all here, now I can explain what we'll be doing" she stated.

"Yeah what's goin' on? Are we leaving the base or something?" Logan questioned. To his surprise, the Commander nodded.

"We are in fact" she began, "not long ago we received a message from the Vorga Base in Washington that they've lost even more of their forces in the recent attack by Giyre. They're now down to only a quarter of their fighting strength, and they requested back-up from here. Being that Vorga is one of our larger bases, we're almost obligated to go and help them out. That's why I wanted you all here, because we'll be heading out today". Jina and Iryn looked particularly astonished, while the others were all able to handle the explanation fine.

"It's gotten that bad there huh?" Gartol remarked, about the situation of Vorga. Grimly, the Commander nodded again.

"Yes, it's because a very weak target after two major Giyre offensives. The first battle did a terrible number on them, leaving half of their forces destroyed. Then with the last one they were extremely lucky to hold out long enough for the Giyre troops to retreat, although they still lost another half of their weapons and machines. No one knows when they'll be attacked again, so we can't waste a lot of time, we'll have to get there as quickly as possible." Xigo's eyes narrowed as he thought about the next attack.

"Will Giyre's Gundams be there?" Shigora inquired with a severe tone. The others all looked at him through the corner of his eyes, a little uneasy by his question. Saruma though, didn't flinch.

"From what we know, they won't be there. They just recently were with another attack, and annihilated the Colodonia Base in Oregon. They're still heading back to their Headquarters, where we're sure that they'll remain to rest and get repaired for a while" she said.

"So we'll just be fighting squads of their regular Mobile Suits?" Xigo went on.

"Yeah, that's what we believe. If they use what they have before in the last two attacks, you'll have a few lines of warships, their aquatic Mobile Suits, and then groups of Blackhawks and their Ales. It's a very large attack, but luckily your Gundams, as well as the Llongshot and Twinn should be our saving graces. If Giyre had their Gundams there, we'd be in a lot of trouble. After all, we need Major Taro to stay here and protect the base in case it's attacked again, and as you may know Mister Rolander has flown to Hawaii with the Administrator to show him the new Mobile Suits they created to replace the Strike Daggers and Rollers" the Commander clarified. Jina's eyes lit up.

"You mean they finished them?" she asked. Jessa nodded with a smirk.

"Yep, they've now made enough to send into battle in large groups. My father told me last night, he got the call from the factory that said they had completed what was needed to send out" the younger Rolander said.

"That's great! Now the Earth Forces will definitely be able to fight against Giyre!" Iryn added.

"Maybe so, but right now we can't worry about that" Commander Cerrical quickly interjected, "Captain Arelie is right now getting the Order ready for our launch. Jina and Iryn, head there immediately after you've gathered what you're taking, you'll be on the bridge the entire way there. As for you Gartol and Shirta, do the same, but get into your Mobile Suits and have them docked on the Order. And you boys and your Gundams do that as well. Now get moving". Understanding the seriousness of the situation, the group all gave a salute, and headed out to do as they were told by Cerrical.

* * *

_Rolander Atlantic Federation Supply Production Complex, Kauai, Hawaii_

A small plane landed on the runway outside of the large campus that was the place where a great number of the military weapons and provisions were created for the Atlantic Federation. It was the highly renowned and illustrious business that Treston Rolander owned, and had operated through his commands.

As the jet came to a halt, several workers and officials gathered into a group at the side of it, as if they were eagerly waiting for the people inside to step out. Soon the stairs to get off were unfolded to the ground, and the doors opened as Treston began to walk down them, with Administrator Jorno following behind him.

"Wow! It's really sunny out here, I need to stop by more often" the Administrator said with a chuckle. Treston smiled himself at the comment, very happy that was wearing a pair of dark indigo sunglasses.

"Yeah, I've been here a hundred times and I never get used to it. That's why I always make sure I have these on" he said pointing to his glasses. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out another pair, and handed them to Jorno. "Try these on if you need them". The Administrator laughed as he took them and put them over his eyes.

"Ahh, that's a relief" he said, feeling comforted. They both arrived onto the ground, and instantly the group of people bowed before Jorno.

"We are very pleased to have you hear Administrator, welcome to our complex" they greeted in unison. Jorno smiled gently at their humbleness.

"Thank you all, I'm sure I'll enjoy it here" he replied.

"You can all get back to your work, I have no special orders for you today" Treston stated. The small crowd dispersed across the rest of the campus, the people heading back to their posts to continue their day. "Follow me Mister Jorno" Rolander then explained, and began to walk towards a porch-like deck with several small tables placed on it. They sat down at one, and a server quickly came by. "Would you like something to drink?" Treston asked, "Tea or a coffee?". Jorno laughed at the thought of drinking one of those two.

"Oh heaven's no, not in this kind of heat. Do you have some kind of fruit-drink?".

"Of course, kiwi-lime, strawberry, dragon-fruit and such".

"I'll have a dragon-fruit" the Administrator decided. Treston looker at the waiter.

"Make that two dragon fruits" he said. With a nod, the man walked off into the small bar that was set up on the island. Jorno found it amusing.

"I'd really love to work here if I didn't have this job, I don't know many places that have a tavern like this" he commented. Treston smiled.

"I particularly like it myself, I figure I give the employees something to truly enjoy about their work" the man said.

"Well, speaking of that, shouldn't we get going for that announcement?" Jorno asked. Treston smirked as the waiter came by with their drinks.

"We have an hour or two before we do that whole thing, let's relax for a while. Besides, you can't make a world-wide declaration looking thirsty, just kick back and enjoy one of these" he suggested, and took a sip of the reddish beverage. Jorno did the same, and upon swallowing it his eyes lit up.

"You're darn right I'll enjoy this" he said with a big grin.

* * *

_Vorga Base, Washington_

The Order slowly moved into perfect position for its landing in the main hangar at the Vorga Base, hidden within the walls of a rocky cliff. On the sides of the canals which ships came in on, Commander Cerrical and Captain Arelie were meeting with Lieutenant Likoal and the higher officials of the station. Other soldiers and crewmen from the Order stood behind her as well, though Xigo and the others were all out around the region doing whatever they pleased.

"I'm very glad that you've come Commander, I speak on behalf of everyone here at the base when I say that I'm much more confident on surviving another attack now that you've come" Likoal humbly said.

"Thank you Lieutenant. I'm sorry to say though that we were only able to bring the Order here, and for one battle only. We've been told to return to Headquarters after we hold off one assault" Cerrical explained. Likoal oddly smirked at the clarification.

"It's no problem at all. Besides, I'm sure we'll just take them all out this time" the man said. Arelie and Cerrical both chuckled at the confident remark.

"Well honestly I think I may have to agree with you on that. We've brought some of our best machines with us" the Captain added.

"Yes, which ones did you bring?" the Lieutenant asked, becoming intrigued.

"The Valor, Thunder and Blaze Gundams, as well as the two new Mobile Suits, the Llongshot and the Twinn" Arelie answered.

"And also one of the new Csander fighter-planes, with the best pilot possible for it, Treston Rolander's daughter" Cerrical added. Likoal's eyes perked.

"Oh really? I heard she was good with the Mobile Armors, but I didn't think she had joined with you guys" he said, "well that's just better. But of course, we have to get a few plans together if before the next attack would come. Please follow me, I have a conference room waiting for us, as well as Jamaican _coffee_" he explained with a wink at Arelie, and began to walk off. Cerrical threw her head back and laughed as she followed him, leaving behind an almost speechless Arelie.

"Wha-what the? Does everyone in the military know about how much I like coffee or something now?" she asked aloud.

On a small hill, away from where Commander Cerrical and the others were, Xigo, Logan, Rodka, Iryn Jina and Jessa all stood looking out into the sea, and gazing over the beautiful scenery of the region.

"My God, it's so beautiful. I would never expect that this area would be for a major military base" Jina said, marveling over the landscape that stretched for miles.

"Yeah, it's better than most of the seaside bases which are just all compacted into one spot right next to the coast" Iryn added, shielding her eyes from the sun as he looked around.

"Well that's what this place is famous for. It goes into forests, the hills, mountains, bays, cliffs, beaches and the seaside. It's absolutely massive" Logan added, able to stare at the horizon fine due to his dark brown sunglasses. From that comment, Jina's eyes lit up.

"Hey, why don't we go walk around the entire place? Check it all out" she suggested. Iryn was just as enthused.

"Great idea! Let's go!" the girl answered. She and Jina both began to walk towards the one forest down a dirt path, as Jessa quickly caught up to them.

"I'll go with you guys too" she said. Rodka watched the three girls as the left together to the dells.

"Have fun, we'll stay here" he called out with dull tone, and then turned away from them, "and good thing too" he mumbled. Logan sighed as he collapsed onto a rock in a sitting position.

"So…what the hell do we do?" he asked. Xigo shrugged.

"I don't know, I don't exactly wanna just walk around the place" he answered, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Well, I hear they have a pool-hall in their cafeteria…" Rodka said. For a moment, Logan and Xigo were both silent, until they turned to the young Redwing, their eyes almost glowing.

"They have pool here?" they both exclaimed. It was then that Rodka remembered how much Xigo and Logan loved to play the game.

"Yeah, they got like six tables, and it's free too" he explained. Logan literally leapt off the boulder.

"Then what are we doing waiting here? Let's go find Gartol and do a two-on-two game!" Dile shouted. Xigo was already walking off away from them.

"Right on brotha right on!" Shigora added with a big grin.

* * *

_Rolander Atlantic Federation Supply Production Complex_

On a long bridge, hung high above the floor of the hangar, and far across the entire large room, Treston Rolander and Administrator Jorno stood alongside with a few of the company officials, and TV Camera in front of them. A red light on the side of the object flashed, and man behind it gave the signal to let them know he was recording.

"People of Earth" Jorno began in a deep, strong voice, as the live video was being played all across the planet on televisions and radios, catching many peoples' attention, "it is with great pride today that I announce the completion of our first line of new Mobile Suits for the Earth Alliance Military. Thanks to the Rolander Atlantic Federation Supply Production Company, we have taken the obviously weak Roller and Strike Dagger suits, and altered them into stronger, better machines." The Administrator then stepped out of the way, and showed off the Mobile Suits behind him. One type was spider-like, with six legs, a large body and the upper-half of a Mobile Suit soldier attached. The other had a more common frame, similar to the Strike Dagger, but with more weapons and armor. "I give you, the Gells Geh, and the Strike Blades!". All across the world, people were awed at the sight of the beautiful Mobile Suits, and those of the military watching felt their hearts leap. The citizens of the Earth had an amazing feeling to see the new machines that would challenge Giyre's forces. Although the camera still focused on the Gells Geh and Strike Blades, Treston stepped in a little to explain about them.

"The legged-Mobile Suits you see on the left are the Gells Geh. These machines are far superior to the Rollers in almost every way possible" the man explained, "they are mainly meant for ground-fighting, moving at great speeds and having the ability to scale buildings and natural structures, although they do have a fine flight mode for faster travel. Their weaponry consists of two beam rifles, and another two energy cannons, as well as positron reflector each." As he stopped, the camera turned more to the Strike Blades.

"These fabulous Mobile Suits are close to the same level of power as the three regular Strike Gundams the Earth Military has. Their improvements over the Strike Dagger are endless, with better armor, faster mobility, superior flight, and more effective weapons for close, mid, and long-range combat" Treston continued, but then paused a few moments to allow the focus to center on him and Jorno more. "We will soon be sending out our first selections of these machines to the major military bases for the Earth Alliance, and at this moment are still creating more and more to transport to other major battlefields and smaller stations."

"So let it be known to all Earth citizens, all Earth Alliance soldiers, and all of Giyre" the Administrator stepped in with, "that our military force has become far stronger than before, and that our troops will be putting up a much greater fight than in earlier battles. We will not go quietly into the night in this war against Giyre, and this production of stronger Mobile Suits is only the first step we'll take to saving this Earth!". And with that, as Jorno finished his strong declaration, the camera shut off.

"Alright that was perfect!" the man behind it exclaimed. The other officials quickly began to leave the bridge, but the Administrator and Mr. Rolander still stayed in front of the new machines.

"Nice job Treston, I think that'll do us a lot of good" Jorno said with a smile. Rolander smirked, and looked back over to the Strike Blades and Gells Geh.

"Nah, that won't do much. It'll be _those _guys that do" he replied.

* * *

_Ranocio Base_

As the message from Treston and the Administrator ended, Geroldo walked over to the monitor which played the live proclamation inside a private room of the base, where he, Balador, Worlat and Ragoss all stood to watch it. The high official of Giyre looked over at his leader, wondering what Balador's reaction would be.

"Well sir, do we think that'll help 'em?" Geraldo questioned. Varo smirked as usual, but still nodded in reply.

"Very much so. Those things will be a bigger challenge for us; they should even be stronger than the Zuoots from Zaft, as well as our own Blackhawks and Ales" he answered.

"Shouldn't you be a bit more concerned if you estimate their power to be that great?" Worlat asked, raising any eyebrow. Balador shook his head.

"Not at all. You see our Goliath Suits should still be more powerful, and we also have quite a few Cgue and Guaiz regiments from Zaft. I wouldn't worry".

"Don't forget those _new _machines sir" Geraldo reminded with a grin. Balador glanced over at him, gaining his own grin.

"Oh of course not. It'll be those that we'll use to seal the deal to our victory. No Mobile Suit from the Earth will stop those, and they'll never be expecting something like that to come onto the battlefield at all" he said.

"And they'll be used for tomorrow's attack right?" Geraldo asked.

"Yes, they'll be loaded onto the Pierrce, which you'll be commanding for the assault" Balador stated, and then looked over at Ragoss and Worlat, "and you both will be going as well, your machines are both ready for battle". Their faces lit up.

"Are you serious? That's great!" Ragoss exclaimed.

"Yeah, I've been dying to use that thing in an attack!" Worlat added.

"Well don't worry, you barely have to wait twenty-four hours for the battle. You'll be leaving tomorrow at noon for the Salt-Lake Base, and your mission is to simply eradicate all forces there" Balador confirmed. Ragoss grinned as he cracked his knuckles.

"Heh, not a problem for me…" he murmured. Not more than a second after he finished his sentence, another officer stepped into the doorway, quickly saluting Balador.

"Sir, forces at Washington report they're ready for their attack on Vorga, do they have permission to launch the assault?" he inquired. Geraldo, Worlat and Ragoss all glanced at their leader, for was silent for several seconds before answering, as if he were simply taking in as much evil glee as he could.

"Let them go…" Balador declared.

* * *

_Vorga Base_

"Attention! All personal to battle stations, Giyre troops closing in!".

That message was said on the sound-system of the base as the sirens began to go off all across the area, with red-lights flashing and spinning as the first lines of Giyre forces were caught on radar. All soldiers, technicians and other officers instantly left their current posts and ran to their locations for an attack. From the cafeteria where they were playing pool, the three young Gundams, along with Gartol, were taken aback by the announcement, just as Xigo knocked his last ball into the pocket.

"Aw man why of all times?" Logan yelled as he threw down his stick and began to run off with the other two.

"What does it matter? I won that game anyways!" Xigo shouted.

Arelie and Cerrical quickly left the room where they were discussing battle strategies with Likoal, while the Lieutenant left for their main control tower of the base. Jina and Iryn followed Shirta onto the Order, though the two girls went straight to the bridge as Shirta went into the hangar to get into the Llongshot.

In minutes, the battle was started, and both sides were exchanging fire. Lines of Strike Rogues and M1 Astrays were lined along the shores in the middle of the region, where most of the barracks and other important structures were set up. They continuously opened fire at the Ales and Blackhawks that soared overhead, only to ignore the incoming Nabvu Aquatic Mobile Suit that came in from the under the waves.

In a flash, groups of them leapt from out of the waters and into the air, landing on the beaches and docks of the area as they attacked. They were machines with a bronze-like color to their armor, stocky in size, and with four tentacle appendages falling from the back and of head and the bottom of their heads. The tentacles in front reared up to shoot out a beam from each, while claws on their hands were fired off as missiles to blow away the Earth Mobile Suits.

Meanwhile several lines of the AGI Mobile Armor were gliding in on the surface of the water. These were the grey spider-like troops of Giyre, with four legs and a thin body for great speed. Quartets of red beams fired from their heads, which literally shot entirely through the enemies they hit, and caused them to explode from the inside. What was even more impressive was when six of them suddenly bounded into the air over a pair of Powell assault landing ships, and released bombs from the bottom of their legs that destroyed them in one giant blast.

The large Pilarldo Class Warships sent hails of missiles down at the base, blowing apart small clusters of Rollers and Strike Daggers, but also doing extreme damage to any building in the way. Ales and Blackhawks were storming over the Earth defense lines, while Nabvus were coming in greater numbers and moving forward quickly. It seemed that Giyre would dominate very quickly…

And then the Gundams flew in.

"Hey there boys and girls!" Rodka cried as the Blaze flew at a number of Ales. The red machine aimed its 120 millimeter Hyper Railgun at the group, and in seconds opened fire. The bullet streams ripped through the green Mobile Suits, and as he passed by, the Blaze was flashing one of its Heat Chains; cutting into any other than escaped his machine gun. "You guys got one helluva fight to survive now!"

The Valor was soon into the chaos as well, and firing off rounds from its 150 millimeter Sub Machine Gun as Xigo aimed the cursor all around. Even with the lack of true aim, three Blackhawks were shot full of holes in no more than ten seconds, and then the blue and gold machine pulled out its longsword to fend off a pair of Ales. They both sent a swipe of their YPS Beam Sabers, only to be blocked by the Valor's blade as it became enshrouded by the blue fire.

"You guys aren't gonna get another chance to attack this place after today!" Xigo yelled, and then pulled his sword back to perform on large slash, which cut the Ales clear in half before their explosions. He then about to send the Valor flying into more groups of Blackhawks, before Rodka noticed something from the corner of his eye.

"Aw crap Xigo, check that out!" Redwing said. Shigora looked over with his Gundam to where the Blaze pointed, and saw an incredible amount of Nabvus and AGIs moving in further down the coast to the cliff regions of the base.

"Dammit, I don't know how we can stop those guys!" Xigo cried.

"I know how I can!" Logan suddenly answered as the Thunder flew past them on an Oaro, but now holding a massive black gun it its hands.

"Oh man, what the hell is that thing Logan?" Rodka asked. The Thunder continued flying ahead, just as it aimed its weapon at the Giyre forces.

"It's the Hyper Gatling Gun I've had made for me, I've been waiting to use it for months now!" Dile yelled back. The Thunder pulled the trigger, and from the huge barrel came forth a barrage of dark blue energy blasts, pouring out fast at the AGIs and Nabvus. In an instant some five of them were blown apart by the beam shots, and as Logan swayed the gun back and forth to bombard all of the collection, more and more were destroyed upon being hit. "Man this was worth the wait!" Logan exclaimed with a grin.

A mile or so away, moving on the waves was the Order, with Nabvus, AGIs, Blackhawks and Ales attacking it from all sides. The massive blue craft was firing off every machine gun on its body, and shooting whatever missiles that could be loaded into batteries and cannons. Luckily, the Twinn and the Llongshot were out in the middle of the fray, the two high-class Mobile Suits fighting off a great number of Giyre troops.

Shirta was piloting the purple and grey Llongshot, keeping it on the hull of the Order as she aimed its High-Energy Sniper Rifle at several Nabvus coming in from under the surface of the ocean. With excellent accuracy, she fired off three violet blasts of energy, each one striking one of the aquatic Mobile Suits and taking them out instantly. A moment later a beam-blast exploded next to the Llongshot, and Shirta turned to see a charging Ale. Aiming her Mobile Suit's left arm, she fired off the Mace and Chain Grappling Launcher, and the head of the made split into four claw-like parts. When it came to the Ale's head, the claws closed back up, and crushed the helmet into pieces, eventually causing the rest of the machine to explode.

"Wow, I didn't think this thing would do _this _well out here" Shirta said to herself as she let her Grappling Launcher return, "hey bro how are you doing?"

Gartol didn't answer at first, and instead focused on the group of Blackhawks in front of him as he sent the green and smoke-colored Twinn flying at them. In his Mobile Suit's hands was a double-bladed beam saber, which he used in amazing from as he passed through the enemy set. The pole swiped from side to side, up and down, each beam saber cutting through whatever Blackhawk it came by, until the Twinn had taken care of them all.

"I'm fine Shirta, the Twinn's working perfectly. This double-beam saber is amazing!" Gartol replied. Before he could say anymore, he spotted three Ales high in the air above him, all of them aiming their beam rifles at him and apparently charging them up. Not choosing to fly off and try to avoid them, he sent his twin-beam saber spinning around in front of him, until in a few seconds it had projected a full beam-shield. The Ales fired, but their blasts exploded uselessly against the incredible protection Twinn had provided with its weapon. The Giyre pilots were shocked by what had happened, so much that they didn't even notice the Helldart Missiles coming at them from the Order before they were killed.

"Load up Helldart Battery One again and get ready to fire at the Pilarldo Warships up ahead! Fire batteries two and three at those groups of Blackhawks and Ales in the sky!" Captain Arelie shouted from her commander chair on the bridge inside the Order. Both rocket compartments opened, and just as she ordered all missiles were fired out into the enemy lines.

The bridge was more active than it ever had been during the battle, with every navigator and communicator working frantically at their computer to watch out for any problems on the warship and more Giyre Mobile Suits. Commander Cerrical and Captain Arelie had been shouting out orders every other second, trying to take out as many enemies as they possibly could during this great assault.

"We have twelve Nabvus heading in at Dock Three for the Vorga Base, they're gonna to ransack our forces there" Jina stated aloud after sighting them on her monitor. Cerrical quickly went to work.

"Turn ship thirty degrees at them!" she yelled. Two of the crewman took control of the ship's movements, and steered it to face the group of Nabvus. "Aim Gottfrieds one and two and fire!" On top of the two-biggest legs of the Order, the twin-barrel cannons fired off a pair of large green beams each, which hit the waters where the Nabvus were and created a massive explosion. For a moment no one could see what had happened, with all the smoke and mist covering up that area and blocking most radar. Though when it eventually cleared, two of the Nabvus had been spotted by Iryn on her screen.

"Commander, two of 'em survived! They're still moving ahead!" the young Tarob stated. Cerrical gritted her teeth upon hearing that all of them hadn't been destroyed.

"Don't worry guys, I'll take care of that!" Jessa abruptly said on the radio, surprising everyone. Flying within the more built-up area of the base, the Rolander sent her Csander head-on at the Nabvus, which had jumped out from the water and landed on the ground. She sent her Hyper Tri-Barrel 60 millimeter Machine Guns blazing, shooting streams of bullets at the bronze-Mobile Suits with amazing velocity. The Nabvus literally flailed around as they pelted by the assault, soon blowing up as a result of internal damage. "Now to take care of what sent them out" Jessa said as she flew towards a Pilarldo Class Warship. Two small doors slid open in the front of her Csander, and from them she released two B-Class Deton Grenades, which blew apart the Giyre warship instantly. Everyone on the bridge of the Order was amazed by her skill.

"Good job girl, that was amazing!" Cerrical shouted with a smile. Jessa smirked at her compliment.

"Thanks Commander, if you guys need any more assistance just tell me!" she said back, and flew off with her machine guns firing again. The Commander still looked up the main screen, smiling warmly at Jessa's Csander as it still soared away.

"Alright guys don't let up; we still got a lot of work to do here!" Captain Arelie yelled, "Let's keep kicking some Giyre butt!"

The massive battled continued on, not letting up for a moment as more Giyre troops poured into the region. Some ten new Pilarldo Class Warships had joined the other lines, and deployed entire regiments of Mobile Suits. Although the Gundams, the Order and everything else from the Alaska Base was the biggest help during the fight, Lieutenant Likoal refused to only have them as his saving grace, and was performing amazing battle tactics.

From the main command center he was being giving more news every other second, and he was able to reply with a solution from every problem that came up. Even with less numbers, and inferior weaponry, the brash military official proved that his troops could still hold their own. His defense strategies had been ingenious, such moments being the most notable where he lured some twenty Ales into one spot within the forests, and then set up a dozen drone guns to rise up from the ground and open fire on them. Another move was where he had a squad of Skygraspers loaded with the 320mm Hyper Impulse Cannon Agni fire in perfect rhythm for them to destroy an entire warship and Infinite-Depths Submarine each.

But the battle was still far from over.

"Man, these guys just don't stop coming!" Logan yelled as he still fired off his Hyper Gatling Gun, at the same time shooting down two incoming Blackhawks with his Shoulder Mounted Beam Rifle. At the moment the Thunder, Blaze and Valor were all fighting together, holding off most of the air-troops as the Order and Vorga Base forces took care of the ground and sea attackers. Nevertheless, they still had a great fight on their hands.

"Yeah, and if they bring out more Pilarldo Class Warships it's gonna get worse" Rodka added.

"We're lucky enough that the Order is able to handle so much of the force down below, as well as the Twinn and Llongshot" Xigo said, noticing the blue warship blow apart a line of Ales with its Gottfrieds "otherwise the base would be mauled by all those Agis and Nabvus", he appended as he cut a Blackhawk in half with his blade.

"So anyone got any cleaver ideas as how to make our situation easier?" Logan asked.

"Not really, we should just stick around here and keep 'em all away from the other forces, and especially from the base, hopefully we'll get some Skygraspers or Moebius Zeroes to come in and help us soon" Xigo answered.

"Yeah and just huddle together, let 'em come to us and we'll tear 'em apart!" Rodka said. But then, a terrible message appeared on everyone's monitors in their cockpits. It was of a civilian man inside a building, which seemed to be shaking and breaking apart more and more every second.

"Earth Forces! The civilian refugee camps down along the shores have been attacked by some forty Giyre Mobile Suits, they're completely wiping us all out, we can't do anything! Please help us!" he cried, and couldn't get anymore out before everything around him exploded in flame, and the transmission ended. Xigo's face twisted.

"Oh God! We gotta go help them!" Shigora cried, ready to take off.

"No Xigo we can't! We have to stay here and hold off these forces!" Logan quickly protested. Xigo's eyes narrowed as his body shook with his rage.

"And let those innocent people be slaughtered like that?" the young man shouted. Logan's face dropped with a sorrowful look, and it took him a few moments to be able to reply.

"Look man, I know that it's hard not to help them, but we have orders to stay here and protect the base, we can't let this place be overrun at any costs. We'll get in big trouble by the Commander and Captain if we leave this place now…" Dile said, a disconsolate tone to his voice. For a moment Xigo was speechless at what his friend said, but in the next his eyes hardened even more as he sent the Valor flying off.

"Then I guess _I'll _just get in trouble!" he screamed.

"No Xigo wait!" Logan cried, trying to stop him, but to no avail. He sighed as he watched the Valor soar away down the coastline, to where the civilian shelters were located.

"Just let him go, we can handle this now, there's an entire squad of Skygraspers coming to assist us" Rodka reassured, and with a surprisingly calm voice. Logan slowly nodded.

"Yeah…"

* * *

_Civilian Shelter Area_

The entire vicinity was devastated. Fires the size of Gundams blazed across the dry-grass floor, and craters of unbelievable mass scarred the ground all over. Buildings lay in piles of rubble, while others were charred to a black mess from the flames, or were in pieces from the weapons of the Giyre Mobile Suits. Nabvus, Ales and Blackhawks moved in further onto the land, completely leaving the shore as they all grouped into the destruction that was one the civilian region.

"Well, all of 'em are destroyed now, what do we do?" an Ale pilot asked.

"I don't know, we were just told to destroy this place. Do we go back to the ship?"

"No, we'll head out to the Vorga Base and give the others some help, we'll make sure they take that place over this time" the leader of the company explained. Just then, one of the Blackhawks picked up a signal on its radar.

"Sir, there's a Gundam heading for us!" the pilot cried. All the other soldiers froze.

"What?" the captain cried. Everyone looked up in the sky, and saw the Valor flying down towards them at incredible speed.

"You're all gonna pay!" Xigo hollered, and instantly it fired off two of its Fullmetal Missiles, blowing apart a pair of Nabvus before it even landed on the ground near them. It was then that teen completely noticed the horrible massacre caused there, his eyes widening as they caught sight of the ravaged buildings, and burned, bloody bodies laying on the destroyed ground everywhere. For a moment Xigo was in a state of shock, but soon his eyes were burning with rage, and he looked back at all the Giyre troops. "You bastards!" Shigora screamed, and with that sent the Valor flying at them, pulling out its blazing longsword. He tore through the lines of them, cutting and slashing and hacking at every machine around him, and wrecking them in one blow each.

"How could ever attack and kill innocent people that have nothing to do with this war? You're all a bunch of cowards to slaughtered helpless civilians! You're not soldiers, you're not even fighting a war, you're just butchering people who can't even defend themselves!" Xigo roared in between attacks. After barley forty seconds, he had destroyed an amazing twenty-eight Mobile Suits, leaving only five Blackhawks and Ales left.

"Oh man! That kid's deadly!" a pilot cried.

"Yeah, we gotta get outta here!"

"Then let's go!" Like scolded dogs the Giyre soldiers flew off back to the ocean, their boosters going at full speed to try and get them away from Xigo. He became even more irate by their retreat, and in the process, had an unbelievable occurrence. In his state of rage, jagged red bolts formed on his eyes, growing deeper in color and longer until they had reached his irises.

"You son of a bitches aren't gonna get away!" he cried. At the push of a button, two large cannons unfolded from behind the Valor, and were aimed straight at the Giyre suits. They began to charge, and the barrels glowed with a deep yellow light as the energy was being powered to the highest level. Eventually Xigo fired them off, sending a pair of golden energy beams soaring at the retreating machines. And they caught up quickly.

A few were instantly vaporized by the blasts, while the others were struck head on, and were engulfed in a colossal explosion that completely disintegrated their Mobile Suits, and shook the entire ocean in its wake. A storm of mist flew to the shore as a result, raining down on the area and putting out more of the fire, while causing a great gust of wind to blow forward across the entire shore.

A few minutes went by, and as the smoke and dust began to finally clear, Xigo sat in the Valor, breathing hard and with his hands still tight around his control sticks. His eyes still had the unexplainable red markings on them, and hadn't lost any of their size or color.

"Hey that was the last warship! We've taken 'em all down!" a soldier from Earth cried on the radio.

"Yeah, we've won!" another added. Everyone back the Vorga Base was celebrating after the very last Giyre enemy had been destroyed, cheering and hollering from the success of surviving the third attack. It was even greater that the Giyre forces in the area had now been completely wiped out, and they wouldn't have to worry about another attack for much time.

But Xigo turned off his radio, not wanting to hear the cries of excitement from the victorious Earth soldiers. Instead he looked out to the water, which was just beginning to calm after his beam blasts. Shigora was still seething.

"Giyre…I'll kill you all…"


End file.
